Election turnouts around the world are often dismally poor; meanwhile, consumers are wedded to their smartphones and using them for new applications all the time. One obvious solution is to allow people to vote by phone. Two years ago, indeed, a Consumer Reports survey revealed that a third of Americans reckoned they’d be more likely to vote if they could do it on their phone. And now, following a pilot involving military voters earlier this year, West Virginia is planning to allow voters living overseas to cast their ballot via smartphone in the upcoming mid-term elections. The plan is to use a blockchain-based system from the company Voatz.
… A recent report from security firm Venafi, indeed, found that 93% of security professionals are concerned about cyber-attacks targeting election infrastructure and data.
“When it comes to US elections, the current attack surface is vast enough,” Tom Kellermann, chief cybersecurity officer at security company Carbon Black told The Daily Swig.
“There is no need to create additional exposure and risk by adding smartphones into the equation. Before looking to make elections easier, let’s first make them more secure by adding a mandatory paper trail.”
Full Article: Smartphone voting brings new security concerns | The Daily Swig.