Hotel mini-bar key opens Diebold voting machines.

[Lance_Boyle]

http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=1064

"The access panel door on a Diebold AccuVote-TS voting machine — the door that protects the memory card that stores the votes, and is the main barrier to the injection of a virus — can be opened with a standard key that is widely available on the Internet."

"Chris’s key was left over from a previous job, maybe fifteen years ago. He said the key had opened either a file cabinet or the access panel on an old VAX computer. A little research revealed that the exact same key is used widely in office furniture, electronic equipment, jukeboxes, and hotel minibars."

[longship]

1. Gawd, this has to be big news!!!

Is there any hope that this will hit the M$M?

[ellenfl]

7. call lou dobbs. eom

[enough already]

48. Call Keith Olbermann too!

This is HUGE news!

[drm604]

2. K&R

:kick:

[Kutjara]

3. And if that doesn't work...

...you can always 'bump' the lock. With a 'bump key' and a small hammer, even an amateur can open these locks in under ten seconds. Bump keys are also readily available on the Net.

http://www.hackaday.com/2005/08/24/lock-bumping-revisited/

[blogslut]

51. Here's a YouTube

on bump keys. Scary stuff

http://youtube.com/watch?v=7Uv45y6vkcQ

[comtec]

80. tha's FUCKING scarry

As i LIVE here in the Netherlands!!!
I can only hope the lock in our door is at least resistant.
Great one more thing to keep me up at night in this fucking country!

and yeah... as I've posted before, I'm really disturbed by whats going on back home :(

[Generic Other]

4. What about ATM machines?

Just wondering....

[bryant69]

9. Good question. I never thought of that.

The truth is that there is no systemthat is going to be perfect (I find it amusing that so many people seem to find people more trustworthy than machines). So you put in safeguards to make sure taht there is a minimum of fraud potential. You have a variety of observers to make sure nothing goes askew.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Scriptor Ignotus]

16. i think the standard should be

whatever they use to secure Slot Machines and ATMs. You know that Ace Rothstein took no chances on his locks...

[oldtime dfl_er]

23. Organized crime!

oh wait, that's what we're up against in this situation too.

http://www.cafepress.com/scarebaby/1497024

[Tyrone Slothrop]

30. People vs. Machines

The issue here is that with a machine you can easily change every single vote that was cast in a day in a matter of seconds.

If a person were to try and tamper with every single vote on paper, it would literally take hours, possibly even days.

Also, when people count the votes, they are usually counted in front of a bipartisan panel of observers. In Diebold voting, no one sees anything.

It's not that people are more trustworthy (elections were certainly rigged before electronics/internet), it's just that it's so much faster with technology. And there's absolutely no trail whatsoever.

[The Wizard]

46. Tabulating the votes in a public election

should be done in public. Having a secret code in the hands of one interested party compromises the integrety of the election. Free and fair elections are the bedrock of a free society. Without them we are no better than the Soviet Union under Stalin.
Walden O'Dell should be horse whipped in the town square.

[annabanana]

59. check out this site... good work done in open source coding

possibilities..

http://www.openvotingconsortium.org/

[elehhhhna]

26. HA! Busted! They do NOT use a minibar key, fersure.

[ScreamingMeemie]

43. I was the ATM teller for a major bank and no, it wasn't a minibar key

It was a series of locks and a combination.

[INDIA]

5. Good lord...

This isn't fixable before November is it?

[LynzM]

22. Nope, no way.

It's too damn big. Give me a 4x6 piece of paper, and a pencil to check off my choices, thanks. :grr:

[ThomCat]

6. Of course it's a cheap generic lock.

It's not as if Diebold has ever shown any real interest in the security of these machines. Why would they actually pay attention to installing a good lock?
:grr:

[rrasile]

28. Dieing Diebold

I've installed many Diebold under-counter metal cabinets back when they were the Cadillac of bank fixturing and I can attest that the cylinder lock they use were of the highest quality manufactured in the United States. Same for their ATM machines.
I've seen the drawer lock on the voting machine and they are of the quality that can't even stamp a name of the front of the lock. The took the cheapest path in building their machine and we allow these bastards to fuck with our votes

[Benhurst]

8. Recommended #6

[YOY]

10. We've got the 'Mini Bar Blues"...

Now everyone is goin out, but Im stayin in
You see I gotta nurse my lonely heart, with the mini bar gin
Its not that my baby is mad at me, no, for doin something wrong
Its just that Im so far, far away from her, and Ive been here for so long

Chorus:
So wont you please try and understand that we aint that kind of band
You choose and you choose, baby and sometimes end up with the mini bar blues

Now love thy neighbour and the children they flock
The suckers that shwag me baby are suckers that I glock
See Im the fire hose, and everybody knows, that Ill knock you down and kick
That ass
So when I go out on the town, straight out the ground
I aint lookin to get on down, its just one of them things that see, me and
The fellas, sipping on some heinekens, if you know what Im trying to express
Through my music

Chorus (2x)

[AZBlue]

11. 'Cause if you still think your vote's gonna count, have another drink!

eom

[leftchick]

13. no kidding

:(

[hunter]

12. Does every airport thief have keys to TSA baggage locks yet?

Just wondering...

Not that this is a similar sort of situation, since crooked election officials get their keys directly from Diebold.

[Recursion]

14. Dell server bezel locks have precisely 4 keys

And I'd bet this is one of them.

[Straight Shooter]

29. Michael Dell is fire-engine red as far as donations to Republicans.

http://www.newsmeat.com/billionaire_political_donations/Michael_Dell.php

He loves giving money to the GOP. I wonder if there's any connection with this situation.

[jazzjunkysue]

15. I'll have a Jack Daniels and a Joe Liebermann, with a twist.

No ice.

[eppur_se_muova]

53. What's in a Joe Lieberman, besides sour grapes ? nt

[jazzjunkysue]

79. "club soda" and bitters. n/t.

[gully]

17. Hmmmmmm, laugh or cry.

hmmm.

[obreaslan]

18. Yaaaaawwwwn!!!!!! What about Anna Nicole's son?? Don't we have...

a live camera on her we could watch??? This Diebold stuff is sooooooo booorrrring!


:sarcasm:

[leftofthedial]

19. that feature was personally requested by king george

[katty]

20. perfect symbol-DIEbold drunk with power

[Rageneau]

21. Since these voting machines are so vulnerable, why don't WE hack them??

Why don't WE hack the Diebold machines if it's that easy? The only bleeding-heart reason would be that it's dishonest to meddle with the vote count. But that kind of naive thinking went out with Florida in 2000.

Nowadays, voting machines are just another battlefield the right has forced us onto, and I say we give no quarter. Let every techie Dem coast-to-coast start plotting to get access to electronic voting machines in order to rig the vote.

At the very least, if wingnuts think that WE are planning to monkey with the machines, maybe they'll do something drastic -- like make them untamperable, which as far as I am concerned would be an improvement over what we have now.

[LynzM]

24. We ought to vote some old political figure into office.

Washington? Jefferson? Somebody.

[gkhouston]

32. FDR?

The way this country's going we're going to need a New Deal to pull us out.

[LynzM]

54. Excellent plan....

I like it! :bounce: Um, not that I'm advocating breaking the law, obviously.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

31. Self-deleted.

Self-deleted.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

34. Or...rather than tampering with the vote

A flood of activists across the country should open up the machines and leave all the guts sitting on top of the machine in the voting booth along with some sort of note about how "secure" your vote is.

If Joe Blow walks in to cast his vote and sees that, he'll probably freak and maybe actually wake the fuck up.

[Ezlivin]

36. IF we do, then you can bet that criminal charges will be forthcoming

The Republicans will not pursue this story if it implicates only Republicans.

But if we tried to tamper with the vote you can bet that their "blinders" would quickly vanish and every Democrat in the country would have a hell of a time defending themselves against "possible" vote tampering.

[AtLiberty]

37. Homer Simpson for president in 2008!

Would Americans finally catch on that the machines might be hackable?

[rman]

78. we do not own the machines,

we don't know what code to write to do the hacking, we would have a hard time gaining access to the machines without arising suspicion.

We might be able to find out how to hack the machines, but the repubs who own the machines don't have to find out; they already know. After all, they made the machines.
We could dress up as Diebold technicians or election officials and hope for the best, but the repubs don't have to - they are the Diebold technicians and the election officials.

[meuniermr]

25. Sent to Olbermann. EOM.

[chat_noir]

27. ...

islab.oregonstate.edu

[karlrschneider]

33. K & R for this one.

I used to have a key that with a little 'jiggling' would open practically any file cabinet or
desk drawer. :eyes:

[kaygore]

35. We are more computer savvy than they are; why don't we steal

the election--have viruses fighting between and among each other. Even better, put viruses on the machines and have those viruses stop any other viruses that attempt to steal the election...but I like simply stealing the election as a better option--cleaner, neater, more Republican.

[whistle]

38. So, the Diebold people not only steal votes, they can steal drinks also...

:wtf:

[lonestarnot]

39. Holy damn!

[mikelgb]

40. seriously... one can litterally STEAL votes

just go around and pilfer the memory cards about an hour before polls close... no election results to count at all

[OnyxCollie]

41. Ha! This reminds me of the story my old friend in NOLA told me.

He said it had been discovered the FEMA trailers were only made with three different locks, and that the local news showed some guy going around opening trailers with the same key. This, of course, presented an idea to those criminals who had not thought about it before and resulted with a public rush on locksmiths to get the locks changed.
:eyes:

[KittyWampus]

45. Jeez, so if your trailer doesn't blow up due to formaldehyde fumes

it's easy pickings for thieves.

[OnyxCollie]

58. Oh, yeah. Theft is rampant in NOLA.

My friend told me about a trailer that was delivered a refridgerator. The refridgerator wouldn't fit through the door, and it wasn't going to be returned, so it was chained up outside the trailer.

The chains were cut and the 'fridge was stolen the next day.

[smalll]

42. Good week to be a drinker!

First we learn that being a drinker increases your chances of having an above-average salary, now we learn that being a drinker can give you a superior hold on political power!

[The Wizard]

44. Does the RNC

know Democratic operatives have the ability to flip the vote counting in Republican districts?

[Ignis]

47. Worst. Security. Ever. (nt)

[volstork]

49. If the keys open voting machines...

why won't they open minibars?!?!?

[Towlie]

50. I think I have one of those keys. What number is on it?

I just watched http://coblitz.codeen.org:3125/itpolicy.princeton.edu/voting/videos/ts-voting.wmv">the Princeton video again, and now I recognize the key that they used to open the machine. It's the same type used to open a Rowe/AMI jukebox.

As it turns out, I have a ring of Rowe/AMI jukebox keys that fit all of the different models made for the last 30 years. Does anyone know the number of the key that fits the Diebold machines?

[Anakin Skywalker]

52. Ah Hah Hah Hah! Funny.

[eppur_se_muova]

55. Saw something like this with *car* keys ...

I was in Georgia (Athens) when I guy came up to the Convention Center (IIRC) desk and said his car was gone. He had parked his burgundy Taurus in the garage, kept the keys (no valet, in other words) and when he came back it was gone. There was another burgundy taurus, a rental, parked nearby. It had different internal decor and someone else's luggage, including a mobile phone (before cell phones got so tiny). He tried his key in the lock.

It worked.

He tried to start the engine.

It started.

Evidently the woman who had rented a burgundy Taurus hadn't noticed that she got in the wrong car and was off to the airport to turn it in to the rental agency.

I couldn't stay around to see what happened, but I'm betting she missed her flight.

WHY should two otherwise randomly chosen cars, same model, have the same key -- unless there are MANY copies of that lock in that model car all across the country? I find that possibility very disturbing.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

62. I found answers... they used to be the same...

:D

Dear Straight Dope:

How unique is a car key? I only ask because:

Most car keys I've seen seem to be generally the same shape, length, etc.
Car keys wouldn't appear to have as many nook-and-cranny combinations as, say house keys do.
Car ignitions can't be that sensitive, able to recognize microscopic differences from one key to another. Or can they?
Bottom line, how many cars do you figure it would take to find one that isn't yours that would open and start with your key? --Scott

SDSTAFF Jill replies:

Are they unique? No, but they're getting closer all the time.

I had a 1985 Toyota Corolla I could start and drive around using my pocket knife. Or a paper clip. I'm not sure if I'm bragging about this feature, but it did come in handy when I'd lost my keys, which was frequently. It was also handy for the people who stole the car.

A Volkswagen repairman told me once he took a customer's key out to the lot. The key fit in the closest bus so he brought it in and did the work on it before realizing it was the wrong bus. It was a 1968 model, so presumably they didn't have too many key combinations then. Or, like with my Corolla, it was more an issue of ignition sensitivity/wear than a key uniqueness deal. I also remember being with a guy once who tried his key in a parked car, the same make, model and year as his, and finding to our surprise he could unlock the door.

So I made some calls. How many possible car key combinations are there? After asking a few guys named Dave at key shops, locksmiths and auto parts places who said, "Oh jeez, gazillions," I found:

1) Bob at Bill's Keys in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Bob said how many different keys are possible depends on the automaker. I could hear him tapping on a calculator in the background before he came up with the figure 1,480,576 key combinations for GM vehicles and about 65,000 for Chryslers. He was adding/multiplying the different number of tumblers, depths and positions possible in those locks. Each lock/key has a code to set the key cutting machine.

2) Steve at Dave's Lock and Key immediately answered that there are only about 100,000 different possibilities to GM keys and about 5000 to Ford and Chrysler cars (why do I trust Bob with the calculator more?).

3) My buddy Chris who runs an auto junk yard (guy has a master's degree in English and inherited a junk yard--thanks, Dad) told me he thinks car keys are close to unique nowadays, but back in the 1970s his father kept a huge ring of keys on the off chance he could find one to fit.

more...
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcarkey.html

[eppur_se_muova]

70. Wow, thanks. Amazing what DUers know. It really is the diversity. nt

[Viva_La_Revolution]

72. insatiable thirst for knowledge...

It's what drives me.

Google is my friend. :)

[Octafish]

56. Ironic: Hotels COUNT every bottle used.

BFEE counts only what they want.

[eppur_se_muova]

60. Oh, VERY good point! Booze = valuable, votes = not worth protecting n/t

[file83]

67. Sad that our American Vote is under less scrutiny than a bottle of booze.

Pathetic, really.

[Justice Is Comin]

57. I smells me some Qui Tam cookin'

Right Pap?

[Auggie]

61. I don't know whether to laugh or cry...

just hand me a glass of vino

[Cobalt Violet]

63. Where can we get them? I think we all should get them.

Something may be done if Liberals ended up with the keys.

[Fovea]

64. Well, I think it's about time

to buy that voting machine a drink.

[sweetheart]

65. next time i'm in a hotel, i'll have to vote

I hope it won't cost me anything on my room charge.

[Cobalt Violet]

66. Jukebox Keys available here:

http://search.stores.ebay.com/Daves-Juke-Joint_jukebox-key_Jukebox-Keys-Lights_W0QQfcdZ2QQfromZR10QQfsubZ12QQftsZ2QQsaselZ1273631QQsofpZ0


For everyone who lives in a diebolt state.

[Imagevision]

68. Just smack it on the right lower front side - bingo! it's opened!

[progressoid]

74. Hey, are you calling the Fonz an election hacker?

[emmadoggy]

69. My request form for an absentee ballot is stamped and ready to be mailed.

I filled it out a day or two ago - just didn't get it in the box today. It will for SURE be in the box tomorrow. Hubby hasn't committed to sending his in yet, but I just may have to force the issue.

God, this situation is such a disaster. :argh:

[Imagevision]

71. What sucks is the % of votes that simply do not get counted or discarded

and we know it does happen, Diebold AccuVote-TS voting machine, - ATM's provide receipt, in something like a Presidential election it isn't required?? come-on!!! it's like a slap in the face of intelligence and common fucking sense! (unless you're controlling the election that it)

[lonestarnot]

73. Can we stock the sonofabitches with ice and cold brew?

[Gregorian]

75. How appropriate. Our democracy has sunk to hotel minibar levels.

I would bet a public bathroom toilet paper roll key would also work. But at least there'd be a paper trail.

Corporations have no place in our voting procedure. Their only interest is profit. Totally opposite to the function of democracy.

[Hoooweee]

76. former officer of elections here

In the city I worked in, we used the Diebold Accuvote TSX. I could do it with any basic skeleton key or strong aluminum foil. It's basically a 1 inch key with notches on either end. Find any form of metal that's got a thin enough notch at the end and can twist with a minimal amount of torque and you've got access to the memory card.

[dweller]

77. hey, i've got some of those keys ...

does this mean i've a future in politics?

and more importantly, will Sigourny Weaver be my gatekeeper?

dp

[Turn CO Blue]

81. Let's all mail our filing cabinet keys to all the Secretaries of State!

And tell them there are more where those came from...

[faithnotgreed]

82. KICKING