Technology brings with it a number of conveniences, but it also opens up opportunities for scammers and hackers to take advantage of people through tech fraud. That crime involves using technology in a variety of possible ways to mislead people, steal data, shut down systems and more. Increasingly over the past several years, tech fraud has influenced voter fraud, which also manifests in many ways. People may use fake information at the polls, try to vote more than once or otherwise wrongfully attempt to swing votes in a certain direction. Unfortunately, e-voting could facilitate both tech fraud and election fraud if the platforms aren’t sufficiently locked down.
Here are five of the potential risks: The issue of foreign nations influencing elections became a topic of dinner-table discussions due to allegations associated with Russia and the election of U.S. President Donald Trump. However, the practice is not new, and experts say it’s been happening for decades. The difference now is that technology arguably makes it easier than in the past to wreak havoc.
Election materials often mention that “every vote counts,” and there was a time when people could feel they were truly making a difference in politics by going to the polls. But reports of insecure voting machines worry users that their votes may not get counted.
A recent hacking conference featured a “Voting Village” where people were encouraged to try to break into voting machines to find flaws. A 50-page report about the cybersecurity weaknesses found that in one case, a machine used in nearly half of U.S. states still had a vulnerability reported over a decade ago.
Full Article: 5 Risks We Face with E-Voting Technology.