Bugtraq mailing list archives
Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes
From: Seth Breidbart <sethb () panix com>
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 23:12:11 -0400 (EDT)
"David Schwartz" <davids () webmaster com> wrote:
Second, to those of us as above, they provide confidence only to the extent that we trust the code being run (which at the least requires it to run on our own computers, and preferably is written by us; I'd trust code I wrote, even though it might have bugs; I'd trust code Bruce wrote, because I know and trust him. I'd trust, to a lesser degree, code that Bruce vetted, because I know how hard it is to examine code and how easy it is to slip something in that's very hard to find.)This criticism is not correct. The whole point of cryptographically-secure voting systems is that you *don't* have to trust the code being run. If your vote wasn't counted, you can trivially demontrate this.
I disagree. If you _think_ you're running a secure protocol, but (unbeknownst to you) I've cracked your computer and substituted my own code, then all of your checks (even if made using another computer with correct code) will show that your vote was correctly counted, despite it not having been. Of course, if you get together N people who voted the same way, and there are <N such votes, that's proof that either (1) their votes weren't all correctly counted, or (2) some of them are lying. You see, the security of the cryptographic protocol involves *actually running* that cryptographic protocol, and putting blind trust in someone else's code means you are NOT assured of that. Seth
Current thread:
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes, (continued)
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes Homer (Sep 22)
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes Rainer Duffner (Sep 22)
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes Mike Ely (Sep 22)
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes Claudius Li (Sep 25)
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes Seth Breidbart (Sep 27)
- RE: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes David Schwartz (Sep 28)
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes Adam Shostack (Sep 29)
- RE: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes David Schwartz (Sep 29)
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes Seth Breidbart (Sep 29)
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes Claudius Li (Sep 25)
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes Enrique A. Chaparro (Sep 28)
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes Dana Hudes (Sep 29)
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes Patrick J. Kobly (Sep 28)
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes Gene Cronk (Sep 22)
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes steve menard (Sep 22)
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes Barry Fitzgerald (Sep 23)
- Re: Diebold Global Election Management System (GEMS) Backdoor Account Allows Authenticated Users to Modify Votes Jose Rey (Sep 25)