Weakness in Depth: A Voting Machine’s Demise

Abstract

Every voting system examined over the past decade has had severe security vulnerabilities. Virginia’s government recently examined the AVS WinVote and learned that the vulnerabilities are more serious than any other voting system, allowing complete exploitation over a Wi-Fi network. The combination of vulnerabilities exhibits “weakness in depth,” rather than the “defense in depth” frequently suggested as a model. The lessons learned are applicable to other emerging technologies, including the Internet of Things.