* Forwarded (from: netmail) by Roy J. Tellason using timEd 1.10.y2k.



Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 11:54:08 -0400
From: "monty solomon" 
Subject: E-Voting Audit Ready for Public

By Kim Zetter, Wired.com, 18 Sep 2003

A security audit ordered by Maryland Gov.  Robert Ehrlich on Diebold
Election Systems' touch-screen voting machines is complete, and a version
of it is ready for public consumption.

Shareese DeLeaver of the governor's office said the 200-page report has
been shown to Diebold officials and is now being reviewed by the state's
Department of Budget and Management and the State Board of Elections.  The
report was commissioned by the governor after researchers at Johns Hopkins
University and Rice University discovered serious security flaws (PDF) in
code for the AccuVote-TS voting terminals.

A redacted version of the report, with information useful to malicious
crackers taken out, will be available on the state's Web site Friday or
early next week.  The severity of Hurricane Isabel and the amount of energy
the governor's office must devote to recovery from the storm will determine
the timing of the report's posting.

Last month Gov. Ehrlich charged Science Applications International, or
SAIC, in San Diego with conducting the audit before the state would proceed
with a $55.6 million purchase and servicing contract for Diebold's
electronic voting machines.  Ehrlich said it was imperative the government
ensure the integrity of the election process by conducting "a
thorough, fully independent review of the Diebold system."

Diebold has maintained that its system has no security vulnerabilities.  ...
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,60486,00.html



Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2003 08:51:35 -0400
From: Dave Farber 
Subject: How to Steal $65 Billion: Why Identity Theft is a Growth Industry 

  [excerpt from an article by Robert X. Cringely, PGN]

Recently my mail was stolen. It wasn't supposed to be stolen, which is a
given, but it also wasn't supposed to be able to be stolen because I was
out of town for two weeks and had the Post Office hold my mail. Only it
turns out that in Santa Rosa, California at least, holding mail means
different things to different mail carriers. Someone -- a substitute
carrier I'm told -- saw that big old pile of mail down at the post office
(the pile with the big "vacation hold" sign above it) and thought
what the heck I'll just deliver that mail anyway. And so they did. That big
old pile of mail sat in my big old mail box on my little old country road
under a walnut tree and across from a pond and sometime in the next few
days it was stolen. The only reason I know any of this is because a
neighbor eventually found some of my mail and some of a lot of other
people's mail strewn along the road like errant unmarked bills after a bank
heist.

Here is something you probably didn't know. If you have the Post Office
hold your mail and they do something stupid like NOT hold it for some
reason, as happened to me, you have no recourse.  [...]
  http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/../index.html>

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Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2003 12:51:03 -0700
From: Max 
Subject: Dave Barry column results in denials of service to telemarketers

Dave Barry column gives telemarketers headaches, 11 Sep 2003
http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/2474750/detail.html

Now it's the telemarketers who are refusing to answer their phones, thanks
to a weekend column by *Miami Herald* columnist Dave Barry.  The American
Teleservices Association was targeted by Barry in his 31 Aug 2003 column.
Barry urged readers to call the ATA and "tell them what you
think" about telemarketers.  Thousands have done so, forcing the
association to stop answering its phones.  Callers now hear a recording,
which says that because of "overwhelming positive response to recent
media events, we are unable to take your call at this time."  ATA
director Tim Searcy said the added calls will be costly to his group
because of toll charges and staffing issues. Barry's only response is to
sarcastically say he feels "just terrible, especially if they were
eating or anything."
  [American Teleservices Association: (877) 779-3974]



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