A reliable source tells me that a headhunter, working for e-voting vendor Diebold, is calling security experts, trying to find somebody to help Diebold improve the security of their systems.
Diebold Looking for Help
February 20, 2004 by
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Tell them to call Andrew Plato at Anitian Security in Portland, OR. His firm is doing the security for Oregon’s election system. Maybe they can make use of his expertise. Apparently (I heard this from the local grapevine) some of his statements made the Oregon SOS NOT chose Diebold as their elections system. They might want to make friends with him as he seems to hold some weight in that industry.
Seth,
I don’t know if they’re looking for real advice, or just a testimonial. It’s possible that even they don’t really know. Every reputable security consultant I know tells stories about clients who haven’t even considered the possibility that a rigorous evaluation might lead to anything less than an unqualified endorsement. The consensus is that this attitude is one of the strongest warning signs of an impending security disaster.
Just curious, do you have any idea if they’re looking for real advice, or window-dressing?
I would think they’ve gotten eough, err, unsolicited advice, that they have plenty to keep them busy if they’re interested “for real”.
Security experts can do whatever they want, but until the source code is subject to public scrutiny, the voter has lost her right to vote. Why would anyone want to participate in an election using a “secret voting system”?
Tom
They better hurry. There seems to be a problem if you tilt Diebold machines 25 degrees…!