Cyber-Security for the upcoming off-year elections just got a whole lot trickier.
According to the Department of Energy, amateur computer hackers could easily tamper with touchscreen polling machines, for as little as $15.00, potentially changing final vote counts.
Energy’s Vulnerability Assessment Team concluded that all it would take to sabotage an election is a tiny microprocessor that could easily fit into a potential hackers palm.
The type of attack demonstrated, called “man-in-the-middle,” allows a saboteur to send information from the touchscreen to the computer that varies depending on what the user touched on the screen. With a $15 radio-frequency remote control, someone could actively change the data while a person is voting. The data changes cannot be traced.
The machines are reportedly vulnerable after being set up at the polling place before Election Day, while in transit to the polling place, or while in storage between elections, according to the department.
