Posted on 05/05/2016 3:11:52 PM PDT by Beautiful_Gracious_Skies
The young cybersleuth says he exposed security lapses on Florida elections websites, but the state says he committed a crime.
David Levin, 31, of Estero, a political consultant and owner of a computer security firm, was booked Wednesday on three felony charges of unauthorized access to computer systems. Each count carries a maximum five-year prison sentence.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Levin illegally gained internal access to websites of the state Division of Elections and the Lee County elections office, which together hold data on more than 12 million Florida voters.
FDLE said that after Levin gained access to the Lee County site in December, he used the login credentials of Supervisor of Elections Sharon Harrington to access the state elections website.
“He took user names and passwords from the Lee County website and gained further access to areas that were password-protected,” FDLE Special Agent Larry Long told the Herald/Times on Wednesday. “The state statute is pretty clear. You need to have authorization before you can do that.”
Levin, who runs two consulting businesses, Political Precision and Vanguard Cybersecurity, was briefly held on $15,000 bond. He was released Wednesday afternoon.
(Excerpt) Read more at fresnobee.com ...
“You can be in Siberia and still perform the attack that I performed on the Lee County supervisor of elections website,” Levin says on the video. “I’m looking for a vulnerability.”
But officer, they didn’t have any alarm system or any bars on their windows, so I was just looking for vulnerabilities when I broke the window to enter their building.
The window was effectively open.
Its always a crime to point out the fact that the government is wrong, especially when they are.
“The window was effectively open”
Okay, analogy still works:
But officer, they left their window open, so I was just looking for vulnerabilities when I entered their building through the open window.
Bottom line, he knew he was going somewhere he shouldn’t, and absent any contract to test those systems in advance, he’s got no defense.
Good point, you would think that they might have thought of that.
NO VOTING MACHINES!!
PAPER BALLOTS WITH TRACKABLE RECEIPTS ONLY!!
What a BS argument!!
Was this guy standing to gain in any way other than to expose governmental law breaking? You make it sound as if he were robbing a poorly guarded bank.
ML/NJ
But if the votes are not on line, how do you expect the Rats to be able to cheat? That’s probably the main reason they went after this guy.
But if the votes are not on line, how do you expect the Rats to be able to cheat? That’s probably the main reason they went after this guy.
OK, so let’s say that instead of this guy it’s your teenage computer whiz kid who’s letting you know what he plans to attempt.
Still feel the same way now, Dad? Hack away, lad (or lass), it’s for a good cause, so you’re justified in breaking the law?
So you don’t CARE if your single vote is drowned in a deluge of 500 false one for your opponent?
Not so much that I’d condone anyone breaking the law on the off chance that they might be able to show the system was subject to that kind of vulnerability.
If he had evidence of that BEFORE the hack, then the hack was not necessary. If he executed the hack in order to find out WHETHER any such evidence existed, then he cannot use the possibility of uncovering illegality as a justification for the illegal hack (just like I can’t go trespassing in all the homes in my neighborhood because maybe someone inside is doing something illegal).
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