Topic: Comelec looking for hackers to test election system

[Rockford]

Comelec looking for hackers to test election system

MANILA, Philippines – Unfazed by persistent criticisms of flaws in the system it is putting in place for the May elections, Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes on Wednesday said the poll body is looking for computer hackers that can challenge the integrity of the automated election system.

“We are looking (for a computer hacker) pero wala pa kaming nakikita eh. Kasi wala naman makaka-hack ng system at this point in time,” Brillantes said in an interview.

Earlier, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano, chairman of the oversight committee on automated elections, asked Brillantes to allot P5 million to P10 million as a reward to any hacker that can break into the system.

“If there is someone who can hack (the system) dapat matagal nang napasok yan [that entity should have succeeded a long time ago],” Brillantes added, referring to the automated election system that was first used nationwide in the 2010 general polls.

However, Cayetano argued that no hacker has yet come out openly to take on the challenge because there was no “legal authority” plus reward from the poll body to challenge the integrity of the automated election system.

“No one has stepped forward because, first, there’s no reward; and second, they are afraid to be charged criminally. If they (hackers) were ‘authorized’ by the poll body, maybe they will try to challenge the integrity of the system,” Cayetano said.

In response, Brillantes assured the Senate panel that the preparation for an automated system is proceeding well to ensure credible, honest and clean elections in May.

With this, Cayetano, who has been critical of the Comelec’s handling of the preparations and its arrangement with its main supplier Smartmatic, urged Comelec to initiate another mock poll in order to ensure what Brillantes is trumpeting that the automated election is in the right direction for credible, honest and clean elections.

Cayetano, along with Rep. Neri Colmenares, said the Comelec should initiate another mock poll 45 days before the actual election so if there are more glitches to come out, the poll body will have enough time to fix the problem.

However, Brillantes said the Comelec is still studying the proposal to undertake another mock poll, considering the funds needed for such.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/54451/comelec-dares-computer-hackers-to-break-into-election-system

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[bundukero]

walang imposible sa tao.... dahil tao din ang gumawa nyan, kayang kaya i-hack yan... 

[godo12345]

mahirap ma hack yan kasi unique na machine yan. isa lang ang nag manufacture, unless kung manggagaling misno yung hacker sa smartmatic. kelangan din ng time para pag aralan yung loopholes ng machine. kung sa election lang siya ma eexpose a public, hindi kayang ihack ng kahit na sino kasi walang time para pag aralan yung loopholes. sigurado naman akong may mga security measure na inilagay yung manufacturer incase of breach.

[mangkepwing]

basta may pera at connection kayang i-hack yan .

pero kung naghahanap lang sila ng hacker tapos walang perang katumbas , walang maglalakas loob / meron man mga small timer lang.

[gkhan]

Kung di man ma hack ay pwede lagyan ng trojan or virus at masisira ang pag basa ng boto. Wag pakasisiguro si Sir Chief Boy. Napakahigpit na ng mga computer system ng mga US govt agencies pero napasukan pa rin ng virus ng isang Pinoy.  Besides, di naman yan ang issue. Dahil na terminate na ng owner ng software na Canadian ang kontrata sa Smartmatic, wala ng proprietary ownership sa software ang Smartmatic. Hence, ang ginagamit ng Smartmatic ay pirated. Pag ginamit ng Pilipinas ang software, the country might be facing one of the biggest piracy case.  Baka inaantay lang ng Canadian owner na mag election at once gamitin ang software nila, I am sure sisingilin nila ang Pilipinas ng malaking halaga.

[akosimetalmouth]

Still using the same machine language as the others.. That is hackable.. US defence nga na hack yan pa kaya.. Let them try putting it online.. IP lang kailangan sabog na yan..

[godo12345]

Kung di man ma hack ay pwede lagyan ng trojan or virus at masisira ang pag basa ng boto. Wag pakasisiguro si Sir Chief Boy. Napakahigpit na ng mga computer system ng mga US govt agencies pero napasukan pa rin ng virus ng isang Pinoy.  Besides, di naman yan ang issue. Dahil na terminate na ng owner ng software na Canadian ang kontrata sa Smartmatic, wala ng proprietary ownership sa software ang Smartmatic. Hence, ang ginagamit ng Smartmatic ay pirated. Pag ginamit ng Pilipinas ang software, the country might be facing one of the biggest piracy case.  Baka inaantay lang ng Canadian owner na mag election at once gamitin ang software nila, I am sure sisingilin nila ang Pilipinas ng malaking halaga.

sorry sir but i guess you are a little misinformed. trojan works only in windows. hindi natin alam baka linux or dos yung system na gamit ng mga machine, but one thing is for sure though, the transmission of data will be encrypted, so there is only a little chance na ma intercept yung transmission ng data.

pangalawa, bat naman naging pirated yung software? eh nung dinistribute ito ng smartmatic sa pilipinas ay may license. kung wala nang proprietary ownership sa software ang Smartmatic, smartmatic should make amends. hindi ba dapat na sila ang mamroblema dun, hindi yung pilipinas? the machine comes with the software, kung walang software, the machine would be useless. kumbaga, yung software ay integral part ng machine. nakabili ka na ba ng bagong kotse na walang makina?

[bodieph]

same old same old

the last elections where the same machines were used, they also issued the same statement, they were looking for hackers to hack the system. kaso wala namang hacker na tanga na gagawin to. its just inviting trouble. hacking usually only works if the target is unaware, yun ang hanap ng hacker yung tipong element of surprise, find the weakness and exploit it. kaso kung ganyan na ineexpect nila, mahirap.

[HeLL_Vhoy]

Calling Anonymous the Comelec chief wants your service hmm... I wonder if the cyber crime law would be applied here for they are sending invitations.

[alucardver]

bitag lang yan. hahaha pag lumantad sila, pagtapos ng trial, siguradong may reward agad mga yan. bracelet at engrandeng bakasyon.

Posas at kulungan. hahaha 

[Good Spy]

takot ako sa mga ganayan.... hahaha... pero pag may pera.. masubukan nga... hahahaa

[praeto_RYAN]

the boldness of the Comelec Chair in saying that their SMARTMATIC system is unbreakable and foolproof is what makes all the "concerned" Senators feel like puking.  no system is foolproof!  AESWATCH wants an independent audit of the system just so to prove its security.  however, COMELEC is very bold in saying such move is no longer necessary.

a very nice read  http://www.talkloud.info/2009/04/hundred-million-pesos-p100m-to-hack-the-automated-poll-system/

a simple manipulation of Smartmatic of their source code on the last hour to say "revise" its counting logic whenever a ballot is inserted for recording from

read the ballot, add another vote per ticked circle to whoever was ticked

to a revised state like

read the ballot, every other ballot for the supposed victim to be added to "favored" candidate.

in essence, if say 100 voted on election day in a given precint.

even if only four voted for a given candidate (favored), and 96 voted for another(victim)

the result will be similar to 52 for favored candidate and 48 for the victim as opposed to the real result which should be 4 (favored candidate) and 96 for the victim.  there you have it, electronic dagdag-bawas!  modifier of the code could even put a time logic in such that said "modified" counting and recording will only be done on election day itself, hence no mock election will bring out such problem. 

[subicboy]

ang naka-off na system/machine LANG ang safe sa hacking/cracking...