voting

As the 2012 presidential election revs up, 33 states now permit some form of Internet ballot casting. However, a senior cybersecurity adviser at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned today that online voting programs make the country's election process vulnerable to cyberattacks.

"It is premature to deploy Internet voting in real elections at this time," DHS cybersecurity adviser Bruce McConnell said at a meeting of the Election Verification Network, which is a group that works to ensure every vote is counted. He explained that all voting systems are susceptible to attacks and bringing in Internet … Read more

Thumb for Android gives you an easy way to pose questions to and get instant opinions from the public. If used correctly, this simple app can be a valuable tool for casual research or daily decision-making. It's also fun if you just want to have people chime in on random topics.

If the concept of Thumb seems familiar, that might be because the app was originally released under the name Opinionaided. Though its name is different now, the app has retained all of its core functionality and is more or less the same as before.

There are two ways … Read more

An e-voting machine that is to be used for the presidential election this year has been found to have "anomalies" such as failing to record votes or logging the wrong vote and freezing, according to a government report.

The Formal Investigative Report issued late last month by the Electronic Assistance Commission (EAC), which certifies electronic voting equipment, issued a notice of noncompliance for the DS200 optical scanning device manufactured by Electronic Systems & Software (ES&S), but did not decertify the machine.

The report found three anomalies:

This was an exciting/anxious year in the Internet security community, with big tech firms like Sony and RSA getting hacked, putting consumer data and corporate networks at risk, and with reports of attacks on utilities.

Scary things that go bump in the night are actually happening to computer systems that matter and it's only going to get worse. Here's what I think will happen in 2012.

Malicious Android apps will increase As a target for malicious software, Android is the Microsoft of the mobile platform. Android has more than 50 percent of the smartphone market, eclipsing all … Read more

Chive Pro is a mobile app for fans of Internet entertainment site TheChive, with which you can view, navigate, and discuss frequently updated Chive photo and video galleries and other Chive content.

The app lets you browse a subset of Chive content from the site, with tabs for the latest photos and videos as well as tabs for discussions ("Buzz"), top-rated content, and categories such as "Awesome," "FLBP" (Future Lower Back Problems), "Gaming," "Movies," "Photoshop," and "WTF." Navigation is smooth and quick-loading, with an integrated video … Read more

A handful of voters in Oregon are using iPads to help them place votes today as part of a plan by the state to determine whether the tablet could eventually be used as a voting system.

According to the Associated Press, which first reported on the effort, Apple donated five iPads to Oregon to help workers in five counties make it easier for voters with disabilities to place their ballots. Election officials are visiting nursing homes, community centers, and other locations to find voters that need some assistance.

The process to place a vote seems quite simple. The election officials … Read more

U.S. government researchers are warning that someone could sneak an inexpensive piece of electronics into e-voting machines like those to be used in the next national election and then remotely change votes after they have been cast.

The Vulnerability Assessment Team at Argonne Laboratory, which is a division of the Department of Energy, discovered this summer that Diebold touch-screen e-voting machines could be hijacked remotely, according to team leader Roger Johnston. Salon reported on it today, noting that as many as a quarter of American voters are expected to be using machines that are vulnerable to such attacks in … Read more

Sometimes, late at night, those who run companies lie awake, slapping their foreheads.

"Why did we do that?" they mutter, as they dribble. "Why?"

I wonder whether those who run Comcast might be wondering the same after asking staff to vote in the "Worst Company in America" competition run by the Consumerist.

It seems that someone at Comcast wasn't happy that last year the company won (or lost) the Consumerist's competition. So this year, discovering that the Consumerist's readers had nominated it again, they sent a memo out to staff, asking … Read more

Oh, yes, you all take your iPads everywhere with you. You love them. They are so simple even a child can use them without a manual.

But not everyone is familiar with touch screens like the iPad's.

You may be moved to democratic howling when I tell you that a voter in Washington, D.C., walked up to a touch-screen voting machine yesterday and didn't use his or her fingers.

No, instead, he or she thumped down a hand stamp bearing the name of Adrian Fenty, the current mayor of D.C., who lost his re-election bid in … Read more