United States of America made history on November 4, 2008 as a Senator from Illinois won the highest political seat of the most powerful country in the world. He is no other than Barack Obama, and he definitely made quite a stir as he made a few firsts that will definitely be in history books.

- He is the first African American to be nominated as Presidential Candidate by a Major Political Party (Democrat).
- He is the first Presidential candidate born in Hawaii.
- He is the first African American elected as President of the United States.

Obama will begin his duties in leading the Americans on January 20, 2009 and in his victory speech in Chicago, he proclaimed that “change has come to America”.

Congratulations, President Obama. We are hoping that the changes are for the good.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Days are coming nearer for the upcoming US Presidential Elections and security standards for electronic voting machines are getting higher. Security is the major factor in every electronic transaction including bank accounts and voting machines so the State of California requires that voting machines undergo a strict security testing. Security experts hacked and cracked the machines to ensure that the standards are met however, there are flaws found in the machines that may compromise the results of the election.

arstechnica.com writes:

Previous Red Team tests commissioned by the state of California revealed significant vulnerabilities in devices sold by Diebold and Sequoia. At the time, ES&S declined to participate in the testing, citing lack of preparedness. The tests on the ES&S machines were finally conducted in October, and the results, which were recently published (PDF), show that products from ES&S are as insecure as the rest.

The article further states that the tamper-proof paper seals on the machines are easily removed by common household items, which can be sneaked in without detection making the machine vulnerable for unauthorized access to its components. Furthermore, the key lock can be unlocked by using a simple office item without removing the seal.

These vulnerabilities gave the “attacker” access to its BIOS and able to modify the boot sequence. An external device loaded with bootable Linux can be used to give the attacker access to passwords.

ES&S is already in serious trouble in California for selling uncertified voting machines to several counties in violation of state law.

Popularity: 3% [?]