HE HAS SOME FASCINATING AND PRETTY FRIGHTENING TAKEAWAYS.
>> DEFCON IS AN ANNUAL HACKER
CONFERENCE AND IN MY WORLD,
CONFERENCES TEND TO BE THESE BIG
SPONSORED EVENTS WITH ELABORATE
ADVERTISEMENTS.
ADVERTISEMENTS. DEFCON IS UNIQUE IN THAT
EVERYONE WHO ATTENDS PAYS 300
BUCKS CASH TO ATTEND.
THERE NOR SPONSORS.
IT’S A FIERCELY INDEPENDENT
SPIRIT ON DISPLAY THERE.
AND IT HAD SET OFF WHEN WE
ARRIVED A SORT OF PARANOIA IN
LAS VEGAS.
LAS VEGAS. HACKER HAS THESE DARK
CONNOTATIONS PURPOSE PEOPLE WERE
GOING TO ELABORATE LENGTHS TO
PROTECT THEMSELVES.
PROTECT THEMSELVES. EVERYTHING FROM CAB DRIVERS TO
THE WEIGHT STAFF AT A RESTAURANT
WE ATE AT WERE SAYING THEY WERE
TURNING THEIR PHONES OFF WHEN
THEY GOT IN THE VICINITY OF
THESE PEOPLE.
THESE PEOPLE. WHEN WE GOT THERE, WE WERE, IN
FACT, MADE TO FEEL PRETTY
WELCOME, AND IT TURNS OUT THE
PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE ARE NOT THE
LONERS, YOU KNOW, WORKING ON
BEHALF OF THE RUSSIAN
GOVERNMENT.
GOVERNMENT. AT LEAST NONE THAT WE SAW.
PEOPLE TEND -- THE TRADITION
THERE IS PEOPLE COMING IN WHO
ARE EITHER EMPLOYED BY BIG
COMPANIES HELPING THEM TO
IMAGINE THE WORST CASE SCENARIOS
THAT HACKERS MIGHT PERPETRATE ON
THEM, OR JUST INDEPENDENT
SPIRITS WHO DO THAT KIND OF
THING FOR INTELLECTUAL
CURIOUSITIOR OTHER MOTIVATIONS.
WE WERE THERE TO ATTEND THE
VOTING VILLAGE, SOMETHING THAT’S
GONE ON FOR THREE YEARS.
IN THIS, THEIR THIRD YEAR, THEY
ASSEMBLED SOME OF THE MOST
COMMON VOTING MACHINES IN THE
COUNTRY.
COUNTRY. BOTH SYSTEMS THAT ARE ON THE
FRONT END THAT YOU AND I USE TO
ACTUALLY REGISTER OUR VOTE AND
THE BACK END.
TABULATORS AND SO FORTH.
YOU’D FEED A PAPER BALLOT INTO
OR THAT OVERSEE A SYSTEM.
WHAT WAS SO INTERESTING, I
ASSUMED COMING INTO IT THAT THE
BIG MANUFACTURERS, COMPANIES
LIKE EFF AND DOMINION PROVIDED
THESE MACHINES TO THE HACKERS
TO, YOU KNOW, FIELD TEST THEM.
BUT, NO, IT TURNS OUT THERE’S AN
EXTREMELY HOSTILE RELATIONSHIP
THERE AND EFF AND DOMINION AND
OTHERS SAID WE DON’T WANT TO
PARTICIPATE AND HAVE BEEN QUITE
AGGRESSIVE IN SAYING WE DON’T
WANT TO BE PART OF THIS.
SO THE ORGANIZERS WERE REDUCED
TO FINDING THESE MACHINES ON
EBAY, WHICH RIGHT THERE IS
PRETTY TERRIFYING.
PRETTY TERRIFYING. IT TURNED OUT THAT ANYBODY CAN
BUY SOME OF THE MOST COMMON
MACHINES IN USE ON EBAY.
WHAT WAS REALLY ALARMING IS WHEN
YOU SEE THESE HACKERS.
THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER
SEEN THESE MACHINES BEFORE.
NO PRACTICE ON THEM FOR THE MOST
PART, WHICH IN AND ENGAGE IN
THEM.
THEM. THEY IMMEDIATELY GET INTO THE
GUTS OF THEM.
AND BEYOND THAT, WE WERE SEEING
DOMINION’S IMAGE CAST SYSTEM.
IT’S A LINE OF TABULATORS THAT
PAPER BALLOTS ARE FED INTO.
THAT HAD ITS GUTS ALL OVER THE
ROOM.
ROOM. NOT CLEAR WHETHER THIS WAS THE
MOST RECENT VERSION OF THE IMAGE
CAST HARDWARE, BUT IT’S
IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT GEORGIA
JUST SPENT OVER -- OR ABOUT TO
SPEND OVER $100 MILLION ON A
CONTRACT WITH DOMINION TO
PROVIDE IMAGE CAST HARDWARE TO
THE STATE IN TIME FOR THE NEXT
PRIMARIES AND FOR THE 2020
ELECTION.
ELECTION. HERE THESE KIDS WERE WHO OPENED
IT UP.
IT UP. YOU CAN POP THE FRONT OFF OF IT
AND HERE’S A PORT YOU CAN GET
INTO RIGHT HERE.
THAT’S EASY.
THAT’S EASY. ALL KINDS OF STUFF THAT YOU
COULD CERTAINLY DO WITHIN SIX
MINUTES BEHIND A CURTAIN.
MUCH LESS IF YOU HAD EXTRA TIME
BECAUSE ANY OF THESE WERE
CONNECTED TO THE WEB AS WE
DISCOVERED A COUPLE DAYS BEFORE
SO MANY OF THEM ARE.
AT THE END OF THE EVENT, VOTING
VILLAGE ISSUES A REPORT.
WE’LL BE EXPECTING ONE FROM
THEM.
THEM. THEY’RE TRANSPARENT ABOUT IT.
THE SPIRIT OF THIS EVENT WAS
TRANSPARENCY.
TRANSPARENCY. TRYING TO GET THESE
VULNERABILITIES OUT OF THE WORLD
SO THAT I GUESS THE IDEA IS THE
COMPANIES WILL BE FORCED TO
CORRECT THEM.
CORRECT THEM. IN FRONT OF EACH MACHINE WAS A
POST-IT THAT SHOWED OFF WHAT HAD
BEEN FOUND OUT BY THE VARIOUS
HACKERS.
HACKERS. AT ONE POINT THE ADMIN PASSWORD
WAS JUST SITTING THERE ON THERE
BECAUSE IT TURNS OUT THE SAME
ADMIN PASSWORD APPLIES TO
MULTIPLE MACHINES ACROSS THE
ROOM.
ROOM. AND THOSE MACHINES WERE CREATED
IN THE 2000s WHICH MEANS THEY --
YOU CAN’T CHANGE THAT ADMIN
PASSWORD.
PASSWORD. THEY’RE LOCKED FOR THAT TIME.
THERE DOESN’T SEEM TO BE
POLITICAL MOMENTUM ON THE BILLS
UNDER CONSIDERATION RIGHT NOW
AROUND TRYING TO KEEP THESE
MACHINES OFF THE INTERNET OR
TRYING TO HAVE SOME SORT OF
CERTIFIABLE BALLOT.
CERTIFIABLE BALLOT. PAPER BALLOT SYSTEM OR ANY OF
THE OTHER THINGS PROPOSED.
AND SO THE COMBINATION OF SEEING
THE INCREDIBLE VULNERABILITIES
THAT WE SAW ON DISPLAY IN
REALTIME AT THIS EVENT AND THE
LACK OF INSTITUTIONAL ACTION
AROUND THE SECURITY OF THE VOTE,