DID ЯUSSIANS HACK THE ELECTIONS?

Many people are claiming that the Russians somehow hacked the election. Here are the real FAQs:

HACK FAQS

1. What is necessary for someone to hack into a voting system to change the vote?

   At least one of the following must be available:

   • A wired or WiFi internet connection to the voting machine
   • Physical access to the voting machine
   • A wired or WiFi connection to the machine that counts the vote totals
   • Physical access to the machine that counts the vote totals
   • A wired or WiFi connection to the machine that keeps voter registration records
   • Physical access to the machine that keeps voter registration records
   • Physical access to the buildings housing voting precincts
   • Physical access to the power lines supplying buildings housing voting precincts
   • Multiple identities and ID cards in different precincts and physical access to those precincts

   Also the following must be available:

   • Knowledge of the layout of the actual ballot used for each precinct to be hacked.
2. What is necessary for someone in Russia to hack into a voting system to change the vote?

   At least one of the following must be available:

   • A wired or WiFi internet connection to the voting machine
   • A wired or WiFi connection to the machine that counts the vote totals
   • A wired or WiFi connection to the machine that keeps voter registration records

   Also the following must be available:

   • Knowledge of the layout of the actual ballot used for each precinct to be hacked.
3. What is necessary for someone on the Internet to hack into a voting machine to change the vote?

   All of the following must be present:

   • A wired or WiFi internet connection to the voting machine
   • Knowing the URL for that voting machine
   • Knowing the login information for that voting machine or a hack to gain access
   • Knowing when the voting machine will be connected to the internet
   • Information on how the voting machine stores and processes the votes
   • Information on where the vote for each candidate is stored for each precinct

   Also the following must be available:

   • Knowledge of the layout of the actual ballot used for each precinct to be hacked.
4. Why is this so hard to do?

   Most voting machines are not connected to the Internet during the election.

   Often the voting machine does not know the position of each candidate on the ballot.

5. Why aren't voting machines connected to the Internet?

   To protect the vote from any kind of tampering or interference from the Internet.

6. How is the vote processed without the Internet?

   The following process is usually used:

   1. Voting machine software is updated through replacement of read-only-memory (ROM) chips sent by the manufacturer to the county government.
   2. The voting machine has a memory cartridge programmed with an isolated computer at the county government.
   3. The voting machine needs only power to operate at the polling place.
   4. The cartridge is then taken to the county government seat by an election official and connected to the isolated machine to count the votes.
7. Why can't the software in the voting machine itself be hacked to bias the election?

   They wouldn't know how to change it to get the result they want:

   • Often the voting machine does not know the position of each candidate on the ballot.
   • The format of the ballot is not in the machine. It is programmed into the cartridge.
   • The locations of the candidates on the ballot are decided by the election officials.
   • Some states have laws that set different orders of parties on the ballot in different years.
   • An attempt to divert votes from one candidate to another would need to know even more information from the cartridge and from the ballot.
   • Integrity checks are built into the cartridge format in the software by storing the same data in several different ways (some encrypted). Whoever changes the software would have to know all of the ways to store the data or the machine will reject the cartridge data.

   There is one other possibility, and that is to hack the voting machines to be installed in precincts that favor the "wrong" candidate so they quit working. This would deny voters the ability to vote.

8. What would be necessary to change the programming of the cartridge?

   Having access to the actual cartridge:

   • The hacker could steal the actual cartridge, change its programming, and return it.
   • The hacker could steal the cartridge from the polling place and replace it with one he had loaded with votes.

   Both of these cases would require the hacker to have:

   • An identical machine and cartridge
   • the programming software and interface
   • a key for the official machine
   • a copy of the ballot for the precinct

   Often the voting machine does not know the position of each candidate on the ballot.

   Any substitution of cartridges would make any tally check using saved paper ballots fail to tally.

9. Why can't the voting machine maker cheat?

   They do not know the layouts or the candidate positions on the ballots they want to change.

   If they did so, they would never be able to sell another voting machine or bank machine.

10. What if someone hacked the voting machine maker?

    They do not know the layouts or the candidate positions on the ballots they want to change.

    If they changed software, they wouldn't know where the machines they changed are sent to.

    Even if they inserted back door access, they still don't know the layouts or candidate positions on the ballots they want to change.