Always in Motion

Jean Mosher

Alter Voting Results with a Magnet or a PDA

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s Comments on YouTube.Com
Ohio Voting Systems Review Findings (EVEREST)

Several friends went to ShmooCon, the big annual hacker convention in Washington, D.C. last weekend (February 15-17, 2008). I’ve heard so many tantalizing ShmooCon security breach stories now that I really need to experience this event myself.

My friend Kimberly heard a presentation there by security investigators commissioned by the State of Ohio to conduct the Evaluation & Validation of Election-Related Equipment, Standards & Testing voting system review (EVEREST). This team tested Ohio’s voting machines and systems for performance and security risks. These voting machines and systems are used throughout our country.

According to this State of Ohio online article Kimberly pointed out to me, Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said, “To put it in every-day terms, the tools needed to compromise an accurate vote count could be as simple as tampering with the paper audit trail connector or using a magnet and a personal digital assistant.”

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner’s Comments on YouTube.Com
Ohio Voting Systems Review Findings (EVEREST)

February 24, 2008 Posted by alwaysinmotion | Information Security, Information Technology, Politics | | 2 Comments

Gray Wolves No Longer U.S. Endangered Species in Three States

Johnson, Kirk. “U.S. Ends Protections For Wolves In 3 States.” New York Times. Feb. 22, 2008: A14.

The U.S. Government plans to end federal protection for gray wolves in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho in March 2008.

Gray wolves were one of the first animals to be protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1974 when there were no gray wolves in the West.

Sixty-six wolves were brought into Yellowstone National Park and Idaho in the mid-1990s. They have multiplied to almost 1,300 wolves. About 230 wolves have migrated into the West from Canada. The population has been rising at a rate of about 24 percent a year.

State governments now allow wolf hunting and aim for target populations of 150 wolves in each state.

Several environmental groups and biologists think that federal protection should not be dropped and that a population of 2,000 to 3,000 would be more stable.

Some conservation groups are filing lawsuits against this action.

Read Kirk Johnson’s full article.

February 24, 2008 Posted by alwaysinmotion | Environmental Issues, Nature, Non-Profit Organizations | | 1 Comment