VOA标准英语2011--US Lab Says Electronic Voting Machines Easy to Hack

US Lab Says Electronic Voting Machines Easy to Hack¹

As the primary election season gains momentum² in the United States in early 2012, voters will head to the polls to cast votes for their preferred candidates. About 30 percent of Americans will use electronic voting machines, all the way through the general election next November. A group of researchers at Argonne National Laboratory outside of Chicago, Illinois have determined³ that those electronic voting machines can be easily manipulated, casting doubt on their security and effectiveness.
Jon Warner’s full time job at Argonne National Laboratory is testing the security strength of the world’s most sensitive areas.
"We do international nuclear safeguards," said Warner. "We break into real security systems."
His part-time job is changing the course of fictitious⁴ elections, on real electronic voting machines that more than a quarter of American voters use.
"These machines are modularly designed, so you have a touch screen, that’s a module⁵, and when I press the touch screen, that sends a signal to the CPU," he said. "Well, the CPU is going to respond back with something. All I did was intercept⁶ that communication flow. If I like the vote, fine let it go through. If I don’t, change it."
Warner manipulates voting information on the electronic machines using a small, custom-made remote control device.
If it sounds simple, that’s because it is.
"We believe that a very resourceful 12 to 13-year-old would be able to essentially⁷ produce these alien electronics that can hijack⁸ the machine," said Roger Johnston.
Roger Johnston heads up Argonne’s Vulnerability Assessment⁹ Team.
"I think our view of the voting machines we’ve looked at is that there really isn’t much security thought put into these devices," he said.
Johnston says security concerns are not isolated¹⁰ to the way the machines are made.
"Often the warehouses¹¹ where these machines are stored have fairly weak security, but almost universally, these machines are transported by third party low bid trucking companies, where there’s no background checks on these individuals," said Johnston. "Often the machines arrive at a polling place and there’s no one to sign for them or to take responsibility for their oversight¹². So there’s often quite a period of time when these machines could be tampered¹³ with."
Johnston’s group tested two different electronic voting machines out of about 12 different models.
"We think that the kind of attacks that we’ve demonstrated on these two machines would probably work on quite a number of other voting machines, but we don’t know that for sure - we simply haven’t had the opportunity to try," he said.
The 2000 presidential election was decided¹⁴ by several hundred manually entered votes in the southern state of Florida. The recount of those votes, and problems in how the ballots¹⁵ were marked, fueled a drive to have more electronic voting machines for the next election.
Johnston says now, the closer the outcome of an election, the greater the role of just one electronic voting machine.
"In the 2008 senatorial race in Minnesota, Al Franken won by 312 votes - that’s one voting machine," he said. "Tampering¹⁶ just a little bit with just one voting machine could potentially have swung that election the other way."
Johnston says the problem is not isolated to the United States. The push for faster calculation of election results worldwide is driving up the demand for electronic voting machines. If those machines are not secure, Johnston says, it could cast doubt on the integrity of the election.

1 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

2 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

3 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

4 fictitious   

adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的

参考例句：

• She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。
• The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。

5 module   

n.组件，模块，模件；(航天器的)舱

参考例句：

• The centre module displays traffic guidance information.中央模块显示交通引导信息。
• Two large tanks in the service module held liquid oxygen.服务舱的两个大气瓶中装有液态氧。

6 intercept   

vt.拦截，截住，截击

参考例句：

• His letter was intercepted by the Secret Service.他的信被特工处截获了。
• Gunmen intercepted him on his way to the airport.持枪歹徒在他去机场的路上截击了他。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 hijack   

v.劫持，劫机，拦路抢劫

参考例句：

• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。
• The hijack take place just after the plane take off.劫持是飞机刚起飞后发生的。

9 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

10 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

11 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

12 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

13 tampered   

v.窜改( tamper的过去式 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• The records of the meeting had been tampered with. 会议记录已被人擅自改动。 来自辞典例句
• The old man's will has been tampered with. 老人的遗嘱已被窜改。 来自辞典例句

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 tampering   

v.窜改( tamper的现在分词 )；篡改；（用不正当手段）影响；瞎摆弄

参考例句：

• Two policemen were accused of tampering with the evidence. 有两名警察被控篡改证据。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As Harry London had forecast, Brookside's D-day caught many meter-tampering offenders. 正如哈里·伦敦预见到的那样，布鲁克赛德的D日行动抓住了不少非法改装仪表的人。 来自辞典例句