Utopia Talk / Politics / 11-year old boy

Paramount Member	Mon Aug 13 07:03:31 An 11-year-old changed election results on a replica Florida state website in under 10 minutes An 11-year-old boy on Friday was able to hack into a replica of the Florida state election website and change voting results found there in under 10 minutes during the world’s largest yearly hacking convention, DEFCON 26, organizers of the event said. Thousands of adult hackers attend the convention annually, while this year a group of children attempted to hack 13 imitation websites linked to voting in presidential battleground states. The boy, who was identified by DEFCON officials as Emmett Brewer, accessed a replica of the Florida secretary of state’s website. He was one of about 50 children between the ages of 8 and 16 who were taking part in the so-called “DEFCON Voting Machine Hacking Village,” a portion of which allowed kids the chance to manipulate party names, candidate names and vote count totals. Read all: http://www...te-website-in-under-10-minutes So now we know how Trump could "win" the election.
Paramount Member	Mon Aug 13 13:45:13 I thought Hot Rod would have posted in this thread by now. I even wrote an appealing title for him.
Nekran Member	Mon Aug 13 13:46:39 http://www.xkcd.com/2030/
smart dude Member	Mon Aug 13 13:49:00 I thought of xkcd too, but this one: http://xkcd.com/932/
Paramount Member	Mon Aug 13 14:39:53 What is xkcd.com?
Paramount Member	Mon Aug 13 14:42:34 Aha! After clicking the link I know what it is.
kargen Member	Mon Aug 13 14:45:57 An 11 year old boy didn't change the votes on a replica site. The replica site he hacked is the site used to post results to the public, not count nor track the votes. THe actual votes would not have been changed.
Paramount Member	Mon Aug 13 14:54:31 I don't care if it was a replica. It is outrageous nonetheless.
Nekran Member	Mon Aug 13 14:58:10 "I thought of xkcd too, but this one: http://xkcd.com/932/" Heh. Your memory is far better than mine :')
kargen Member	Mon Aug 13 15:00:33 The replica part doesn't matter. if it had been the real site it still wouldn't have changed any votes. The site is simply the site Florida uses to post results to so they can be released to the public. Hacking that site has zero affect on the votes cast. What hacking that site can do is cause confusion for a while.
Paramount Member	Mon Aug 13 15:03:29 So what is stopping 11 year olds from hacking into the real site and change the votes?
Nekran Member	Mon Aug 13 15:06:18 “While it is undeniable websites are vulnerable to hackers, election night reporting websites are only used to publish preliminary, unofficial results for the public and the media. The sites are not connected to vote counting equipment and could never change actual election results.”
swordtail Anarchist Prime	Mon Aug 13 15:12:41 14-year-old boy uses legal quirk to run for Vermont governor http://www...witter&utm_medium=APEastRegion
Paramount Member	Mon Aug 13 15:19:23 Okay. But if a result is being presented to the public – and then later, the election authority says something else, then everyone is going to distrust everything, and people would have to count the votes again. But then no one will trust that second count, so they will have to count the votes a third time to really make sure they have counted correct.
Nekran Member	Mon Aug 13 15:21:09 Yeah, that is an issue. But well... it's the internet. What you gonna do?
kargen Member	Mon Aug 13 15:46:07 You are trying to create a crisis where there really is none. They would need to admit someone altered the numbers on the public site and let everyone know that it didn't change the actual vote. Votes are counted with representatives from each party there as witnesses so other than some confusion not a big deal the way you are thinking. Where it does present a problem is this. Florida polls close before polls in most other states. If a hacker changed the numbers presented showing a particular candidate won the state it might influence voters in other states to not go to the polls. Thing is any change would almost immediately be noticed and corrected. Government sites should be as secure as possible and all this does is show that Florida isn't quite there yet.
Nimatzo iChihuaha	Mon Aug 13 15:57:41 "But then no one will trust that second count, so they will have to count the votes a third time to really make sure they have counted correct." Paramount http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b3hshvSbuM
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