'The seal of the voting machine can be easily released with aluminum cans' pointed out by security researchers

by Andy Thrasher

Voting machines used to select politicians need strict security to prevent fraud concerning elections. On the other hand, various shortcomings have been pointed out regarding the security of voting machines, and in the United States, eleven-year-old boys hacked electronic voting machines, for example, have questioned the safety of voting machines. Meanwhile, security experts insist that the seal to prevent physical access to the voting machine can be easily released by using aluminum cans.

Security Seals Used to Protect Voting Machines Can Be Easily Opened With Shim Crafted from a Soda Can - Motherboard
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/mbdw73/security-seals-used-to-protect-voting-machines-can-be-easily-opened-with-shim-crafted-from-a-soda- can

Voting machine manufacturers in the United States and the election management committee have insisted over the years that "Whoever you can not operate a voting machine with will or affect the result of voting". According to the manufacturers and the committee, a strict seal ( Tamper-evident ) is given to the voting machine, and it is impossible to illegally operate the voting machine without leaving evidence that the voting machine worked wrongfully about.

However, Matt Bernhardt , a security expert for voting machines conducting research at the University of Michigan , explains that it is easy to unlock a plastic seal applied to a voting machine in a wide range of America. According to Bernhard, if an intruder can access the voting machine physically, he can hack software by swapping the memory card inside the voting machine inside the voting machine.

Mr. Bernhard posts on YouTube an easy way to break the physical seal of the voting machine.

Breaking the seals that protect Michigan's voting machines


The blue plastic object that Mr. Bernhard holds is a seal of a voting machine actually used at a polling place such as Michigan State.

The seal that passed through the hole where the elongated tube is like a valve is very tightly closed and it seems difficult to unseal the seal with bare hands.

So Mr. Bernhardt took out the broken piece from the can of Dr. Pepper.

Put the scissors in the aluminum piece ......

I cut out in a shape resembling a bullet that two long sides draw a gentle curve.

Wrap the aluminum piece around a sealed plastic tube ... ...

Screw the sharp corner into the hole into which the tube is inserted.

Pass the aluminum piece through the hole as it is ......

Mr. Bernhard pulls the tube.

Then the tube was able to slip through the hole.

Apparently, it seems that it can be invalidated by inserting a piece of aluminum into a hole, which prevents the inside of the hole from get caught in the tube and the seal can not be unraveled. If you know how to do it, it takes only tens of seconds to unlock it.

Bernhard said, "People of the election management committee insist that" voting machines are not connected to the Internet and are physically sealed, so there is no room for fraud to intervene. "However, This seal is meaningless and they would not have noticed even if committee people had unauthorized physical access to voting machines without knowing them. " .

Fred Woodmann, a public relations officer in the state of Michigan, said, "The seal released by Mr. Bernhardt in the movie is not connected to the objects that you would like to seal, such as voting machines. It is not an applicable scenario, "Bernhardt said that the method he invented can not be used in reality. Besides the voting machine itself, a security system to prevent fraudulent voting has been established, Mr. Bernhardt claimed that they did not consider them.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bernhard pointed out that before the voting, the voting machine is kept in a place where anyone can go in and out, such as a school gym, a church, a civic center, etc. In such a state, It is said that it is physically accessible to the voting machine without being found by people. In addition to the physical seal release method invented this time, claim that there is a way to damage the ballot. For example, in Michigan State, there is a law to exclude that voting machine when recollecting voting if it is found that there are errors in the number of voters and voters and that voting machines are being destroyed. In other words, a person who wants to interfere with the election will be able to exclude that voting machine from the re-voting only by visibly damaging the ballot box without releasing the seal.

by Carl Mikoy

Mr. Bernhard said he was able to take one of the seals on the voting machine back when participating in volunteering for election management in Washtonone County , Michigan. Not having brought back secretly not to be found by anyone, Mr. Bernhardt said he got an acknowledgment to the people of the election committee asking "Do you mind if I bring this with you?" It is pointed out that there was a situation in which it was possible to trial and error the seal unlocking method at home by using a seal that is actually used by anyone, using a corrective method like Mr. Bernhardt.

In addition, it is also possible to purchase a seal from the Internet shop selling election goods without doing such a thing via the Internet. Mr. Bernhard says that election product sales companies have not confirmed what buyers are purchasing for purchasing, whether they are purchasing for election purposes or not, and that concerns about security remain I point out.