Children Hack Into Version of Florida’s Election Site in Minutes

An 11-year-old boy and girl were able to hack into a mock version of Florida’s election website and change the results in a matter of minutes.

According to multiple reports, the two children pulled off the feat in less than 10 minutes during DEFCON 26, the world’s largest hacking convention.

From the Sun Sentinal:

An 11-year-old boy pulled off the feat in less than 10 minutes during DEFCON 26, the world’s largest hacking convention, according to a report by PBS News Hour. Buzzfeed reported another child — an 11-year-old girl — manipulated the site to make it appear that libertarian candidate Darrell Castle had won Florida’s presidential vote in 2016.
The event took place last week in Las Vegas.

After getting wind of the news, Sarah Revell, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of State, stated that the mock site did not duplicate all of the safety features in place to stop hacking.

“It is not a real-life scenario, and it offers a wholly inaccurate representation of the security of Florida’s elections websites, online databases and voting systems,” said Revell.

The mock website was apparently built by Brian Markus, who is described by a DEFCON spokesperson as a “world-renowned security expert.”

Overall, 35 of 39 participants ages 6-17 successfully hacked mock versions of Secretary of State websites in six swing states during a portion of the convention called the Voting Machine Hacking Village, reports the Sun Sentinal.

The children were able to tamper with everything from vote tallies to candidate names.

Responding to the hacks, the National Association of Secretaries of State said that they in no way represented real election systems.

“Our main concern with the approach taken by DEFCON is that it utilizes a pseudo-environment which in no way replicates state election systems, networks or physical security,” a statement read.

Just last week, Florida Senator Bill Nelson claimed that Russian operatives have “penetrated” some of Florida’s voter registration systems ahead of the 2018 midterms.

Nelson’s claim is so far unsubstantiated with state official urging the Senator to provide some evidence.