____/ Ramon F Herrera on Monday 30 July 2007 23:25 : \____
> "For example, all three vendors' election management software runs on
> platforms with the
> Windows operating system. The configuration of the Windows system
> provides a layer of
> protection against an attacker compromising the software. The strength
> of this layer
> depends directly on the security of the underlying operating system.
> As Windows is
> known to be vulnerable to many forms of attack, vendors should ensure
> that the
> underlying Windows system is locked down sufficiently6 to counter
> these threats."
>
> http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9752129-7.html
>
> -RFH
Why not Linux? Maybe because Microsoft plays politics?
Microsoft Muscles the NYS Legislature
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft’s proposed change to state law would effectively render
| our current requirements for escrow and the ability for independent
| review of source code in the event of disputes completely meaningless
| - and with it the protections the public fought so hard for.
`----
http://nyvv.org/blog/bolipariblog.html
Brasil has already decided that Linux would be better.
E-Voting Raises New Questions in Brazil
,----[ Quote ]
| Some Brazilians are lobbying the tribunal to switch from Windows CE to
| an open-source operating system for the voting machines, since Microsoft
| Corp., citing trade secrecy, won't allow independent audits to make
| sure malicious programmers haven't inserted commands to "flip" votes
| from one candidate to another.
|
| [...]
|
| Fontoura confirmed that Brazil is considering a move away from
| crosoft's proprietary code -- "We are studying the possibility of using an
| open-source program like Linux in future elections. This would make the
| entire process much more transparent and far less expensive," he said.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060929/brazil_electronic_voting.html?.v=2
What about stability?
,----[ Quote ]
| "Nineteen machines had 21 screen freezes or system crashes, producing a
| blue screen and messages about an "illegal operation" or a "fatal
| exception error."
|
| "Especially with this blue-screen problem, you don't know whether it's
| the printer drivers, you don't know whether it's Diebold's own code or
| whether it's Windows,"
`----
http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6257
What database engine do these vendors use?
,----[ Quote ]
| Problems found in an audit of Diebold tabulation records from an Ohio
| November 2006 election raise questions about whether the database got
| corrupted during the tabulation of election results...
|
| The database is built from Microsoft's Jet database engine. The
| engine, according to Microsoft, is vulnerable to corruption when a lot
| of concurrent activity is happening with the database, such as what
| occurs on an election night [and Microsoft advises againt using Jet in
| a complex environment]...
|
| The report mentions that election staff had trouble with the server
| crashing and freezing on election night....
|
| The report notes that with punch card machines election officials used
| to be able to determine definitively if all ballots had been counted
| in the results....
`----
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/04/diebold_vote_da.html
--
~~ Best of wishes
Roy S. Schestowitz | Othello for free: http://othellomaster.com
http://Schestowitz.com | RHAT Linux | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
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http://iuron.com - Open Source knowledge engine project
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