UCSB team develops voting machine virus

The Computer Security Group at the University of California Santa Barbara have done an in-depth look at the voting machines used by the State of California and have authored a proof of concept virus.

From UCSB:

In the Summer of 2007, the Security Group of UCSB participated in the Top-To-Bottom Review (TTBR) of the electronic voting systems used in California. This was a first-of-its-kind review, where the evaluators had unprecedented access to the systems' source code, hardware, and associated documentation.

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In particular, we developed a virus-like software that can spread across the voting system, modifying the firmware of the voting machines. The modified firmware is able to steal votes even in the presence of a Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). [From UCSB: Evaluating the Security of Electronic Voting Systems]

There are currently three publications around this research. A report, a formal paper, and a video.

Here is the video (in two parts):

 

Part One

 

Part Two