Hackers at the annual DEF CON conference convened in Las Vegas this past weekend to identify vulnerabilities in voting machines for the 2024 election, but it may be too late to address their findings before this year’s election.
The DEF CON “Voting Village” hacking event entailed hackers working with a variety of voting machines, attempting to bypass firewalls and other security measures on devices meant for counting ballots and confirming voters’ identities, Politico reported. Many individuals focused on election integrity are concerned that no system to swiftly update security measures exists, according to the outlet.
“As far as time goes, it is hard to make any real, major, systemic changes, but especially 90 days out from the election,” Catherine Terranova, one of the Voting Village organizers, reportedly stated.
“Vote here” signage is stored at a warehouse at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC) ahead of the 2024 Arizona Primary and General elections in Phoenix, Arizona on June 3, 2024. Maricopa County election workers have repeatedly been the target of harassment and threats since the 2020 US election due to the spread of online misinformation about voter fraud. Officials are preparing for another onslaught of conspiracy theories in the 2024 presidential race by bulking up security and giving public tours at their ballot tabulation facility in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
The organizers plan on publishing an imminent report on the hacker’s findings, according to the outlet. Harri Hursti, co-founder of the Voting Village, reportedly said the detected vulnerabilities took up “multiple pages” by Saturday afternoon. However, the process to address any bugs in the system would likely not finish in time for the November general election, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Hackers May Bring Back The Paper Ballot)
The event comes after former President Donald Trump’s campaign was reportedly hacked. The campaign referenced a Microsoft report that claimed Iranian hackers targeted a “high-ranking official on a presidential campaign.”
Microsoft says Iran is creating fake sites, spreading false stories and even hacking the Trump campaign’s IT system – all in an attempt to disrupt the U.S. presidential election. NewsNation’s @elinashirazi has more on what Iran is trying to do. pic.twitter.com/nmxEycOCGu
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) August 11, 2024
“On Friday, a new report from Microsoft found that Iranian hackers broke into the account of a ‘high ranking official’ on the U.S. presidential campaign in June 2024, which coincides with the close timing of President Trump’s selection of a vice presidential nominee,” campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Politico.
During the 2016 election, the FBI reported two states’ election databases were breached by foreign hackers. The FBI did not clarify which states, but there were reports at the time of attacks on Illinois and Arizona’s voting systems.
Stacks of ballot drop box signs sit in storage at the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC) ahead of the 2024 Arizona Primary and General elections in Phoenix, Arizona, on June 3, 2024. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
A lawsuit was filed in 2017 against Dominion voting machine systems in Georgia. It was filed by a group of Georgia voters and an election transparency nonprofit, the Coalition for Good Governance.
U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg agreed with the plaintiffs claims of vulnerabilities and ordered Georgia to update its system, the Courthouse News Service reported.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – MAY 21: A Fulton County Elections worker stretches his arms as voters cast ballots in Georgia’s primary election at a polling location on May 21, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. Among the races on the ballot in Fulton County is Scott McAfee, the Fulton County Superior Court Judge overseeing former president Donald Trump’s election interference criminal trial. (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)
After the 2020 election, Republicans’ trust in U.S. elections nosedived due to concerns of voter fraud. Rasmussen Reports reported in 2022 that “most Republicans don’t trust electronic voting machines.”
The poll also found “that 39% of Likely U.S. voters believe voting machines make it easier to cheat in elections.”
TOMORROW: New record levels of concern about cheating this year AND are many machines internet connected DURING ELECTIONS?
These first-time results indicate a big trust deficit by national likely voters in “The Machines.”
Thank you for the question idea @GlennKesslerWP ! https://t.co/yKNIVTSy6u pic.twitter.com/lYfHVybvUt
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) June 12, 2024