[lotuseclat79]

Swiss Votes to Use 'Unbreakable' Code
Article here.

A new "unbreakable" encryption method will be keep votes safe for citizens in the Swiss canton (state) of Geneva in the country's upcoming national elections, officials said Thursday.

I did not know there were any companies in the USA engaged in selling quantum cryptography equipment since late 2003 to government and corporate customers.

-- Tom

P.S. The US should take a clue from the Swiss and mandate this kind of protection for electronic voting in the future, IMHO!

[sglv]

Originally Posted by lotuseclat79

Swiss Votes to Use 'Unbreakable' Code
Article here.

A new "unbreakable" encryption method will be keep votes safe for citizens in the Swiss canton (state) of Geneva in the country's upcoming national elections, officials said Thursday.

I did not know there were any companies in the USA engaged in selling quantum cryptography equipment since late 2003 to government and corporate customers.

-- Tom

P.S. The US should take a clue from the Swiss and mandate this kind of protection for electronic voting in the future, IMHO!

Why bother. The losers will just say they're rigged, just like they do every election for I don't know how long.

[poochee]

Originally Posted by lotuseclat79

Swiss Votes to Use 'Unbreakable' Code
Article here.

A new "unbreakable" encryption method will be keep votes safe for citizens in the Swiss canton (state) of Geneva in the country's upcoming national elections, officials said Thursday.

I did not know there were any companies in the USA engaged in selling quantum cryptography equipment since late 2003 to government and corporate customers.

-- Tom

P.S. The US should take a clue from the Swiss and mandate this kind of protection for electronic voting in the future, IMHO!

Sounds like a plan to look into.

[WarC]

Unbreakable, lol.

Not until the first disgruntled employee gets out the door with the decryption algorithims.

No one is going to try and break this thing at the strongest point, they'll go through the backdoor, the human element, the people and the apps that put that encryption in place. Not the encrypted data itself.

[Knotbored]

shazam-the system is now secure !

edit-oops sory that was an old article stating "further review indicating problems will be corrected by the new Millenium windows versiopn due out next month."

[BlackSpike]

Originally Posted by WarC

Unbreakable, lol.

Not until the first disgruntled employee gets out the door with the decryption algorithims.

No one is going to try and break this thing at the strongest point, they'll go through the backdoor, the human element, the people and the apps that put that encryption in place. Not the encrypted data itself.

That is why we need a system that has adequate peer-review and a reliable organisation behind it, rather than Diebold and other politically-motivated, incompetent firms.
There will always be weak-points, so we work to identify them, minimise them and account for them failing.
Having Voting Machines with a verifiable paper-trail, a competent workforce and a proper reward/punishment system is MUCH more important than the strength of encryption.
Social Engineering (or "blagging" as it is called in none-computer fields), is a well-known phenomena, and should be accounted for in something as sensitive and important as who rules our country.

[SB305]

Does anyone here truly believe that postal-voting, let alone electronic voting, can ever attain the security afforded by the good old ballot box and its associated scutiny system?
I live in the U K, where postal voting has been gerrymandered time and again; and where the government couldn't be trusted to set up a video recorder.

[sglv]

Originally Posted by SB305

Does anyone here truly believe that postal-voting, let alone electronic voting, can ever attain the security afforded by the good old ballot box and its associated scutiny system?
I live in the U K, where postal voting has been gerrymandered time and again; and where the government couldn't be trusted to set up a video recorder.

No. We have "absentee" ballots, early voting (every day for 2 weeks prior to an election at the grocery store, gym, mall, etc.), and election day ballot casting and we still can't get a 50% voter turnout. I think our last municipal election we had 11%. They're doing everything they can to get the vote out - I think we should tell the people they cannot vote next election and see what happens. We'd have maybe a 90% public outcry (and I think I'm optimistic there).

[SB305]

"They're doing everything they can to get the vote out"
Do you really believe that? In this very wonderful age, where marketing can sell anything, don't you think they're just going through the motions?

[lotuseclat79]

Originally Posted by WarC

Unbreakable, lol.

Not until the first disgruntled employee gets out the door with the decryption algorithims.

No one is going to try and break this thing at the strongest point, they'll go through the backdoor, the human element, the people and the apps that put that encryption in place. Not the encrypted data itself.

Hi WarC,

No one can intrude upon quantum encryption end-to-end, at least that part of it is unbreakable. As you say, perhaps the weakest links (i.e. the human element) need better scrutiny to assure the results.

-- Tom

[sglv]

Originally Posted by SB305

Do you really believe that? In this very wonderful age, where marketing can sell anything, don't you think they're just going through the motions?

Absolutely not. Why would they set up voter booths, man them with real people, for weeks before an election, in malls, gyms, grocery stores, etc., send out ballots, etc. I truly believe they want people to vote. Absolutely. They are trying to get people to get out there and vote. I have to say, I went to the mall with my daughter and I saw the booths sitting there, pretty much empty, and I said "oh, I need to vote - no time like now." My daughter (pre-teen) rolled her eyes and said "do you have to?" Yes, and I voted. Yes, I would have been there on election day, but would all the people who saw them standing there said "nah, gonna wait til' election day." I don't think so. They're trying to get people to vote, people just aren't doing it because.... IMHO ... they don't think it matters. It does. It really, really does. If they don't vote ... it doesn't matter. True. But if they do, it could make a difference. I believe that.

[bassetman]

Originally Posted by lotuseclat79

Swiss Votes to Use 'Unbreakable' Code
Article here.

A new "unbreakable" encryption method will be keep votes safe for citizens in the Swiss canton (state) of Geneva in the country's upcoming national elections, officials said Thursday.

I did not know there were any companies in the USA engaged in selling quantum cryptography equipment since late 2003 to government and corporate customers.

-- Tom

P.S. The US should take a clue from the Swiss and mandate this kind of protection for electronic voting in the future, IMHO!

[Ciberblade]

Originally Posted by lotuseclat79

Hi WarC,

No one can intrude upon quantum encryption end-to-end, at least that part of it is unbreakable. As you say, perhaps the weakest links (i.e. the human element) need better scrutiny to assure the results.

-- Tom

While this is cutting edge technology -- remember, NOTHING is unbreakable. If it can be done electronically, it can be undone electronically. What we are really talking about here is time and effort.

What I like about this technology, is that it takes fiber to the next level -- though, I still remember when it was thought impossible to gain access to fiber without disrupting the line. Now, it's just hard.

This overlooks the primary complaint in electronic voting. It's not that the data would be unsecured during transit of packets, but that the physical voting machines could be manipulated to return incorrect results. (found true only in labs with the ability to gain access to the component level)

CB

[rob821]

Originally Posted by sglv

No. We have "absentee" ballots, early voting (every day for 2 weeks prior to an election at the grocery store, gym, mall, etc.), and election day ballot casting and we still can't get a 50% voter turnout. I think our last municipal election we had 11%. They're doing everything they can to get the vote out - I think we should tell the people they cannot vote next election and see what happens. We'd have maybe a 90% public outcry (and I think I'm optimistic there).

Interesting that low voter turn out is becoming such a "problem" everywhere. We have low voter turn outs in the UK as well, the politicians tell us it's because people aren't interested in politics and we've seen all kinds of ad campaigns to get people interested.

I'll admit that I don't generally vote. Not because I'm not interested in politics, but because I'm not interested in politicians. The ones I've met and the ones I've seen seem to be entirely self-serving; frequently lacking any qualifications or actual work/life experience; we are beset by professional politicians, many of whom have never actually had a regular job, just a succession of back-office jobs for their chosen party. The most important thing to all concerned is to keep the gravy train rolling. I'm tired of them creating more and more layers of elected government, not in an effort to improve democracy, but rather (it seems) to ensure that there are enough jobs for all the politicians.

However, I have to agree with WSC that "Democracy is the worst form of government, apart from all the rest".

[sglv]

Originally Posted by rob821

The ones I've met and the ones I've seen seem to be entirely self-serving; frequently lacking any qualifications or actual work/life experience; we are beset by professional politicians, many of whom have never actually had a regular job, just a succession of back-office jobs for their chosen party. The most important thing to all concerned is to keep the gravy train rolling. I'm tired of them creating more and more layers of elected government, not in an effort to improve democracy, but rather (it seems) to ensure that there are enough jobs for all the politicians.

Definitely some truth in that. I think once a politician reaches federal level elections, they have become "professional politicians." You have to start at the bottom with good intentions to reach the top, compromising every step of the way. I guess the question is did they compromise for the good of their constituents, or to the detriment of their soul?