Well, I'd say it's unbelievable, but it really isn't. A key has been constructed that will open every Diebold machine. And it was made from a a photo on the Diebold website! Yeah, I trust these machines to fairly and accurately tabulate my votes... NOT!
It's a great story over at The Brad Blog, and I urge you to go read it. It's got video and everything!
How is it that I've NEVER gotten an extra $20 (or been shorted one, for that matter) in nearly 25 years of using a Automated Teller Machine? And yet, when something far more valuable, our democracy, needs to be accounted for, it's treated like a mock election at an elementary school? Come to think of it, our mock election (Nixon/McGovern... showing my age) was probably more secure than these machines. I remember both ballot boxes had padlocks on them, and I would reckon had different keys that operated them.
No such deal here. Open every Diebold machine with the same key, and the 'plans' are right on the website!
Some quotes from the story:
It was revealed ... that, incredibly, the company uses the same key to open every machine.
In a classic Diebold bury-the-evidence move, they've now replaced the entire page in their online store featuring the mechanical, copyable key with a page featuring a "Smart Card, Security Key Card."
But they have a capture of the original page with the key pic... go check it out!
Can't we go back to something better? I'll volunteer to count paper ballots out of a plywood box.
Update: Further linkage at OhGizmo!