Back in October of 2010, we wrote about how some “hackers” had broken into a test of the Washington DC e-voting system, and had managed to have the system play the University of Michigan “fight song” every time people voted — University of Michigan being where the researchers (led by e-voting security expert J. Alex Halderman) were from. A day later, we discussed some more details of the hack, noting how just a tiny vulnerability could take down the integrity of the entire system.
It’s been a bit of time since then, but Halderman has released the academic paper they wrote about the experience, which is now getting some new attention, including the fact that, beyond playing the UMich fight song, they also installed their own slate of “fictional” candidates, including Bender from Futurama, who is presumably running on a Kill All Humans platform.
The full paper has some other interesting tidbits, as well, including the fact that they didn’t just hack into the e-voting machines… but also accessed the security cameras watching the e-voting servers, which were left open to public access. I’m not kidding.
Full Article: The Details On How To Elect Futurama’s Bender To Whatever Election Is Using Online Voting | Techdirt.