Amid hacking fears, key caucus states to use app for results

Chron ^ | 1/18/20 | RYAN J. FOLEY, CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY

[Libloather]

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Two of the first three states to vote in the Democratic presidential race will use new mobile apps to gather results from thousands of caucus sites - technology intended to make counting easier but that raises concerns of hacking or glitches.

Democratic Party activists in Iowa and Nevada will use programs downloaded to their personal phones to report the results of caucus gatherings to the state headquarters. That data will then be used to announce the unofficial winners. Paper records will later be used to certify the results.

The party is moving ahead with the technology amid warnings that foreign hackers could target the 2020 presidential campaign to try to sow chaos and undermine American democracy. Party officials say they are cognizant of the threat and taking numerous security precautions. Any errors, they say, will be easily correctable because of backups.

“We continue to work closely with security experts to test our systems and identify incidents, including disinformation monitoring, and we are confident in the security systems we have in place,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price.

[Libloather]

“Scary would be a darn good word,” said Brandon Potter, chief technology officer of ProCircular, an Iowa company that has done vulnerability assessments for local elections officials. “If it’s secure, awesome. But it opens up all kinds of questions."

Russia. Boo.

[BipolarBob]

It takes cactus a long time to grow. Anyone caught hacking down cactuses should face a long jail sentence.

/s

[E. Pluribus Unum]

...technology intended to make counting easier but that raises concerns of hacking or glitches.

"Glitches?" Is that a technical term?

[Farcesensitive]

They want to make sure Bernie doesn’t win.

[bk1000]

Of course it’s hackable. It’s the Democrats. They aren’t going to take a chance on the people choosing the candidate. This will be so much more convenient than having to “find” just the right amount of misplaced ballot boxes.

[867V309]

OK, "Amid hacking fears, key caucus states to use app for results"    BUT    "Two of the first three states to vote in the Democratic presidential race will use new mobile apps ...but that raises concerns of hacking or glitches."

W     T     F

[Fedora]

Democratic Party activists in Iowa and Nevada will use programs downloaded to their personal phones to report the results of caucus gatherings to the state headquarters. That data will then be used to announce the unofficial winners. Paper records will later be used to certify the results.

So determine the results you want electronically first, then adjust the paper records to fit. What could go wrong?

[catnipman]

“Amid hacking fears, key caucus states to use app for results”

right. because everyone knows that it’s impossible to hack and app ...

[867V309]

when I download a clock app, why does it want "contacts" permission?

[TexasGator]

I hate when people ask for help but dont even give the necessary details ...

[cgbg]

Bernie is such toast.

The DNC will give him an electronic mugging.

[867V309]

me too