[silk] India's Electronic Voting Machines Have Security Problems

[Biju Chacko]

http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/blog/felten/indias-electronic-voting-machines-have-security-problems

A team led by Hari Prasad, Alex Halderman, and Rop Gonggrijp released
today a technical paper detailing serious security problems with the
electronic voting machines (EVMs) used in India.

The independent Electoral Commission of India, which is generally well
respected, has dealt poorly with previous questions about EVM
security. The chair of the Electoral Commission has called the
machines "infallible" and "perfect" and has rejected any suggestion
that security improvements are even possible. I hope the new study
will cause the EC to take a more realistic approach to EVM security.

The researchers got their hands on a real Indian EVM which they were
able to examine and analyze. They were unable to extract the software
running in the machine (because that would have required rendering the
machine unusable for elections, which they had agreed not to do) so
their analysis focused on the hardware. They were able to identify
several attacks that manipulated the hardware, either by replacing
components or by clamping something on to a chip on the motherboard to
modify votes. They implemented demonstration attacks, actually
building proof-of-concept substitute hardware and vote-manipulation
devices.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of India's EVMs is how simple they
are. Simplicity is a virtue in security as in engineering generally,
and researchers (including me) who have studied US voting machines
have advocated simplifying their design. India's EVMs show that while
simplicity is good, it's not enough. Unless there is some way to audit
or verify the votes, even a simple system is subject to manipulation.

If you're interested in the details, please read the team's paper.

The ball is now in the Election Commission's court. Let's hope that
they take steps to address the EVM problems, to give the citizens of
the world's largest democracy the transparent and accurate elections
they deserve.

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