E-Voting Is Here, But Its Security Is Lacking: What Can Be Done To Make It Secure?

BOSTON -- Internationally Renowned Security Experts and Authors from Security Innovation Available to Discuss the Path to Secure E-Voting and the Larger Epidemic of Technology Vulnerabilities

On November 2, 2004, tens of millions of Americans will cast their vote in the Presidential election, and for the first time in history, many of these votes will be submitted using electronic voting (e-voting) systems. But despite the inevitability of widespread adoption in the coming years, most e-voting systems are fraught with reliability shortcomings and security vulnerabilities that could compromise the integrity of an election. In fact, Dr. Herbert Thompson, director of security research for Security Innovation, recently discovered vulnerabilities in one popular e-voting system that made it possible to change the results of an election with only five lines of script using Microsoft Notepad with little chance of detection.

Dr. Thompson, author of The Mezonic Agenda: Hacking the Presidency (www.mezonicagenda.com) and co-author of How to Break Software Security, is available to discuss why e-voting systems lack the proper security to help guarantee the integrity of a local, state or presidential election, and what can be done to better secure these systems. Dr. Thompson and his colleague, Dr. James Whittaker, both maintain that the lack of security with e-voting systems is a symptom of a larger illness that plagues the technology industry.

"Security has never been the focus during the software development process and it shows in the software code that many commercial vendors turn out on a daily basis," said Dr. Whittaker, founder and chief scientist of Security Innovation. "E-voting is just the tip of the iceberg in the larger issue surrounding vendor accountability and insecure code. The bottom line is that like much of today's technology, e-voting systems are not ready for prime time and won't be until more emphasis is placed on securing them before they are rolled out."

Media interested in speaking with Dr. Thompson or Dr. Whittaker regarding e-voting security, please contact Jason Morris or Dan Borgasano of Schwartz Communications at [phone] or [e-mail].

About the Experts

Dr. Herbert "Hugh" Thompson is a world-renowned information security expert and author. He earned his PhD in applied mathematics from Florida Institute of Technology and is co-author or editor of 12 books, including The Mezonic Agenda: Hacking the Presidency and How to Break Software Security. Dr. Thompson has more than 50 academic and industrial publications on software security and frequently writes for industry magazines. Dr. Thompson is also the principal investigator on several US Government research grants. He has spoken on software security throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, at conferences such as STAR, Quality Week, RSA, Gartner and COMPSEC. He has won numerous awards for his lectures and is often asked to give conference keynotes. At Security Innovation, he leads research efforts on software security and trains security testers at some of the world's largest software companies.

Dr. James Whittaker is recognized in business, government and academic circles as a leading authority on software testing. A prolific author and speaker, he has written dozens of papers and articles and is a frequent keynote speaker for industry and corporate conferences. He has written six pioneering books on various aspects of software engineering and testing, including How to Break Software which is widely regarded as the definitive text on practical software testing techniques. Dr. Whittaker serves as a software testing and security consultant to the DoD, NSA and other government agencies, as well as to some of the world's largest software companies. He remains actively involved in teaching at the Florida Institute of Technology, and, as founder and lab director of Florida Tech's Center for Software Engineering and Research, he leads a team of talented engineering students in groundbreaking research in software quality, security, reliability and safety. Dr. Whittaker received a B.A. in computer science from Bellarmine College, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Tennessee.

About Security Innovation

Security Innovation, Inc., is the leading provider of application security testing services and technology. The company's solutions and expertise help independent software vendors and end-user organizations in government, e-commerce and financial services write, evaluate and deploy more secure applications. Dozens of leading organizations, including Microsoft, Symantec, VeriTest, IBM Global Services, Aladdin, SAIC, Harris Corporation and a number of government agencies, have relied on Security Innovation's expertise, training and application- testing services. More than 60% of the company's staff holds advanced degrees in computer science with 30% at the PhD level. The company is headquartered in Boston, Mass. with research labs in Melbourne, Fla. and Bozeman, Mont. For more information about Security Innovation, visit www.securityinnovation.com or call 321-308-0557.