
11-year-old changed election results on replica Florida website in under 10 mins - rbanffy
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/an-11-year-old-changed-election-results-on-a-replica-florida-state-website-in-under-10-minutes
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joshstrange
Ehh this seems rather light on details. Was this simply an "Inspect Element"
"hack" and this "replica" I'm going to bet money it wasn't provided by
Florida. All of it just doesn't really add up or make much sense. I'm not
saying that our election infrastructure isn't riddled with holes but this
don't prove anything except that DEFCON wanted a click-baity headline IMHO...

Edit: I just got notified on my phone of a reddit thread for this same article
and the consensus [0] there is "Inspect Element" was used. What a stupid
article that only detracts from real threats.

[0]
[https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/96xszu/an_11yea...](https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/96xszu/an_11yearold_changed_election_results_on_a/)

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millzlane
Looks like it was a SQL injection after learning how to do it. The 11 year old
did it in 10 minutes. Also the password was stored in plain text on the
device. As for the replica bit. This was in the article.

“It would be extremely difficult to replicate these systems since many states
utilize unique networks and custom-built databases with new and updated
security protocols,” it read. “While it is undeniable websites are vulnerable
to hackers, election night reporting websites are only used to publish
preliminary, unofficial results for the public and the media. The sites are
not connected to vote counting equipment and could never change actual
election results.”’

But Sell said the exercise the children took part in demonstrates the level of
security vulnerabilities found in the U.S. election system.

[https://twitter.com/VotingVillageDC/status/10281031708646973...](https://twitter.com/VotingVillageDC/status/1028103170864697345/photo/1)

Here is also a link to the article in case it didn't work for you.
[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/an-11-year-old-
changed-e...](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/an-11-year-old-changed-
election-results-on-a-replica-florida-state-website-in-under-10-minutes)

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1023bytes
Similar article as from BuzzFeed yesterday:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17744937](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17744937)

