WASHINGTON, D.C. – Some Dominion Voting Systems voting machines have security vulnerabilities that leave them vulnerable to hacking attacks, according to a report released June 3, 2022, by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), although the federal agency claimed that there is no evidence these vulnerabilities have been exploited thus far.
The CISA report states that hackers could potentially be able to flip votes if they were able to take advantage of the weaknesses discovered in the tested voting equipment, particularly involving several different versions of Dominion Voting Systems’ ImageCast X software, including firmware based on Android 5.1 and several ImageCast X applications.
CISA recommended that election officials that utilize these versions of Dominion Voting Systems equipment should beef up their security by conducting in-depth audits, increasing protection of physical equipment, and updating older, outdated software. CISA also suggested that officials potentially remove bar codes that are printed on ballots, since they could be altered to affect the recording of votes.
The report noted that these vulnerabilities could be exploited in future elections, allegations that have been made in recent unsuccessful court cases challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election. However, CISA executive director Brandon Wales noted that his agency was working with election officials to increase their security measures.
“We are working closely with election officials to help them address these vulnerabilities and ensure the continued security and resilience of U.S. election infrastructure,” he said. “Of note, states’ standard election security procedures would detect exploitation of these vulnerabilities and in many cases would prevent attempts entirely. This makes it very unlikely that these vulnerabilities could affect an election.”
However, the CISA report noted that if an individual gained physical access to Dominion’s voting equipment, they would be able to spread malicious code; in addition, devices could be remotely hacked if election workers transferred data from internet-enabled computers to election computers via USB drives.
Overall, nine separate security concerns were noted in the report.
The CISA report was based on the discoveries of Alex Halderman, a computer science professor at the University of Michigan, an expert in a federal lawsuit that – if successful – aims to replace Georgia’s digital voting system with paper ballots.
While Halderman’s work is currently sealed in federal court, CISA carried out their review, which covered not only Georgia, but jurisdictions in 16 other states that utilize Dominion Democracy Suit ImageCast X voting equipment.
“The vulnerabilities are significant, and the state should take responsible steps promptly to reduce the risk that they’ll be exploited,” Halderman said. “That doesn’t mean it’s time to panic, and it doesn’t mean that there is proof that any past election has been tampered with. But it does mean it’s time to act.”
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