The ABC NEWS title of the piece is just wrong as reading further into the Tapper/Abrahams article clearly shows. The Chicago voter database was not hacked, according to Tom Leach, what was hacked into was the website file which is a "copy" file, not the original file.
Most readers won't read beyond the initial couple of paragraphs of most articles, and mostly what will stick in their minds is the title.
Fox News Live's E.D. Hill is interviewing Bob Wilson (Illinois Ballot Integrity Project) at 10:30 a.m.
E.D. HILL ... an organization found out more than one million voters in a Chicago voter database could be hacked, says E.D. Hill... we're concerned... (there is a bad connection with Wilson and Hill says they will return to him.)
Fox News Live Ticker tape reads
security gltitch found in Chicago Voter Database!
We're on our way to set the record straight. Done on the submit News form. More.
Check electionline.org for this date and weekly report recap
Election Reform news this week:
Election officials in Chicago were forced to patch a security flaw in their Web site this week after a candidate discovered a programming error that made private voter information vulnerable to theft. The information has been available for at least five years. “We don’t have any evidence that there was any theft,” Tom Leach, spokesman for the Chicago Board of Elections told the Chicago Tribune. “But we don’t want to be in a position where someone has their Social Security and date of birth stolen.” The error was fixed late last week and the Cook County state’s attorney was informed about the potential for identity theft. Leach told the paper that the Board of Elections plans to hire a computer forensics expert to determine if personal information was stolen.
electionline.org
Illinois
Voter information open to hackers
After tracking the story, Net the Truth Online must also question who found the "programming error," "security flaw."?
Was it a candidate for election as noted in the Chicago Tribune's October 24, 2006 report Voter security glitch fixed by John McCormick
Chicago election officials said Monday they were forced to patch a security flaw on their Web site after a candidate found a programming error that had made private voter information vulnerable to theft for at least five years.
and as identified (Peter Zelchenko, a 43rd Ward aldermanic candidate and computer expert)in the Chicago Sun-Times October 24, 2006 report Hack Cracked Board of Elections Web site leaves Social Security numbers vulnerable by Art Golab
The glitch was pointed out to the Sun-Times by Peter Zelchenko, a 43rd Ward aldermanic candidate and computer expert, who also informed the board of the problem Friday.
or
Was it the not-for-profit civic organization, Illinois Ballot Integrity Project
as noted in
ABC7Chicago Apparent security flaw in board of elections website Not-for-profit group claims it accessed sensitive voter info by John Garcia
ABC NEWS Chicago Voter Database Hacked Civic Group Claims It Could Have Tampered With Voter Roles, by Jake Tapper and Rebecca Abrahams?
AP (Boston Herald) Watchdog group finds security flaw in Chicago elections Web site, Associated Press, Tuesday October 24, 2006
And who is responsible for the misspelling of the word "rolls" in the ABC NEWS subtitle?
Meanwhile, versions of the same news which are dramatically more accurate in titles than ABC NEWS Spin Cycle Headline:
ABC7Chicago
Apparent security flaw in board of elections website Not-for-profit group claims it accessed sensitive voter info by John Garcia
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=4688529
Chicago Tribune
Voter security glitch fixed by John McCormick
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-0610240029oct24,1,1602608.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
Chicago Sun Times
Hack Cracked Board of Elections Web site leaves Social Security numbers vulnerable by Art Golab
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/108366,CST-NWS-hack24.article
AP Report Boston Herald
Watchdog group finds security flaw in Chicago elections Web site
By Associated Press Tuesday, October 24, 2006 - Updated: 09:40 AM EST
http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=163915
Notice the difference? It's more accurate to refer to "election website" than to "voter database."
A total so far of four other articles use more accurate headliners.
COMPARE THE ARTICLES WHICH FOLLOW and track the hype which will flow from the ABC NEWS Spin Cycle Headline
Note: 11:10 a.m. FOX NEWS LIVE E.D. Hill report did not include a retake with Illinois Ballot Integrity Project's Bob Wilson. Instead, Hill appeared to alter the wording from database of voters... to more general terminology, and appeared to have either spoken to Illinois and Chicago election officials directly, or, maybe, just maybe they received our email.
ABC7Chicago
Apparent security flaw in board of elections website Not-for-profit group claims it accessed sensitive voter info by John Garcia
October 23, 2006 - There is an apparent security flaw in the computers that contain personal information on hundreds of thousands of voters in Chicago. A non-partisan organization claims it gained access to sensitive personal information including Social Security numbers.
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=4688529
Associated Press (Boston Herald)
Watchdog group finds security flaw in Chicago elections Web site
By Associated Press Tuesday, October 24, 2006 - Updated: 09:40 AM EST
CHICAGO - The city is investigating a security glitch in its elections Web site that hackers could have used to swipe Social Security numbers and the personal information of about 1.3 million voters, officials said.
It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone actually stole or misused any of the information, Chicago Board of Elections spokesman Tom Leach said.
He said the problem had been fixed and a forensic computer expert would be brought in to examine the site’s logs for any signs of illegal access.
“Obviously, we are very concerned,” Leach said Monday. “We have no reason to believe there was (theft), but we want to be able to assure people there wasn’t.”
A watchdog group, the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project, exposed the vulnerability and alerted officials last week, Leach said...
http://news.bostonherald.com/national/view.bg?articleid=163915
Chicago Sun Times
Hack cracked Board of Elections Web site leaves Social Security numbers vulnerable
October 24, 2006 by ART GOLAB Staff Reporter
For at least the last six years, a loophole in the Chicago Board of Elections Web site has exposed the Social Security numbers and birth dates of more than 1 million registered voters to anyone with a computer, a Web connection and rudimentary programming knowledge.
Until Saturday, this data -- all that is necessary for an identity thief to apply for a credit card, mortgage or even acquire an arrest record in someone else's name -- has been available through a Web site intended to tell voters their registration status.
The glitch was pointed out to the Sun-Times by Peter Zelchenko, a 43rd Ward aldermanic candidate and computer expert, who also informed the board of the problem Friday.
The board immediately closed the loophole, and board chairman Langdon Neal ordered his staff Monday to hire an outside forensic computer consultant to "look at the security of the system and also look at computer logs to determine if there has been any hacking or wholesale downloading," according to board spokesman Tom Leach...
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/108366,CST-NWS-hack24.article
Chicago Tribune
Voter security glitch fixed by John McCormick
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-0610240029oct24,1,1602608.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
ABC NEWS SPIN CYCLE
ABC NEWS Chicago Voter Database Hacked by Jake Tapper and Rebecca Abrahams
Oct. 23, 2006 — As if there weren't enough concerns about the integrity of the vote, a non-partisan civic organization today claimed it had hacked into the voter database for the 1.35 million voters in the city of Chicago....
Bob Wilson, an official with the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project — which bills itself as a not-for-profit civic organization dedicated to the correction of election system deficiencies — tells ABC News that last week his organization hacked the database, which contains detailed information about hundreds of thousands of Chicago voters, including their Social Security numbers, and dates of birth.
"It was a serious identity theft problem, but also a problem that could potentially create problems with the election," Wilson said.
A nefarious hacker could have changed every voter's status from active to inactive, which would have prevented them from voting, he said.
"Or we could've changed the information on what precinct you were in or what polling place you were supposed to go to," he said. "So there were ways that we could potentially change the entire online data base and disenfranchise voters throughout the entire city of Chicago."
"If we'd wanted to, we could've wiped the entire database out," Wilson claimed.
Tom Leach, a spokesman for the Chicago Election Board, tells ABC News that the problem seems to have arisen because the city's database allowing voters to locate their voting precinct once asked voters for detailed information such as Social Security numbers.
Approximately six years ago, Leach said, when the website was updated — requiring only name and address — city computer experts "never cut the links to the Social Security numbers and the dates of birth."
Leach said he doubted the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project could have disenfranchised voters or wiped out the database, but he and the Election Board were very concerned and had taken steps to remedy whatever problems exist, including bringing in an outside computer forensic expert to verify that the database is secure and to ensure no one had already hacked the database.
"We're also making arrangements to remove the Social Security numbers," he added, and the Election Board was also alerting law enforcement to the problem as pointed out to them.
"Even though they could hack into the Web site, they couldn't hack into the voter file," Leach said. "The Web site feeds into a copy file, not the actual original file."
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2601085&page=1
Just what we thought would be portrayed... do they want to show you there is a difference between an official voter database and a website file?
Chicago's 43rd Ward Peter Zelchenko, candidate
Monday, October 23, 2006
Board of Elections database vulnerability
Read statement on the Board of Elections database vulnerability.
Go to Illinois Ballot Integrity Project Web site.
http://ward43.blogspot.com/
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