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If you love to cook and want to grow
your own food but donβt feel confident enough to start a veggie patch,
learning how to grow herbs is the way to go. Fresh herbs can elevate
your food from a bland concoction to a delicious dish.
Herbs have been appreciated for
thousands of years by many cultures. Their flavors and medicinal
properties were once considered gifts of the gods.
One of the best things about culinary
herbs is that you donβt need a lot of space to grow them. You can
quickly start your very own indoor herb garden with just a few basic
things: high-quality seeds, a sunny windowsill, organic potting soil, and lots of TLC.
If youβre tired of buying packaged
herbs that shrivel up in a matter of days, this step-by-step guide can
give you the confidence to grow your own herbs successfully. The
varieties on this list are some of the easiest to start from seed, so
theyβre perfect for beginners or anyone who thinks they donβt have a
green thumb.
How To Grow Herbs: Getting Started
First things first: Most herbs are
native to the Mediterranean, so the trick to supporting their growth is
to provide similar conditions. This means plenty of sun, moderate
temperatures, and soil with good drainage.
If you plan to grow and maintain your
kitchen herb garden indoors, you can start at any time of the year. But
if youβre thinking about creating a little herb corner in your garden
or outdoor planter, then the best time to start planting herbs is
spring, once the danger of frost has passed.
If youβre not sure when that is, feel free to use the Back to the Roots grow calendar to find out the date of the last frost based on your location.
Best Conditions
Most culinary herbs thrive in full
sun, between 7-8 hours of exposure β Mediterranean conditions, remember?
This is the ideal amount of time for them to produce the essential oils
that make them so fragrant and delicious.
Some herbs β like basil, parsley, and
cilantro β may enjoy partial shade from the hottest midday sun during
the scorching summer months.
When you grow herbs indoors, the best
spot for them is by a sunny window. If your house doesnβt have enough
natural sun, consider investing in a grow light.
These helpful accessories not only provide your plant with the
necessary amount of light they crave, but they also encourage them to
grow fuller.
Avoid using garden soil if youβre
growing your aromatic herbs inside containers or pots, as it doesnβt
provide proper drainage. Opt for a well-draining organic potting mix,
which is engineered specifically for this type of gardening.
Terra cotta pots with drainage holes
are also a better option than plastic planters, as they provide more
aeration for the plants and help prevent moldy roots.
Herb plants are perfect for container
gardening, and you can even grow different types in the same container,
except for certain species (more on that later). A great perk of
growing your herbs inside pots is that you can relocate them, ensuring
they always have ideal growth conditions.
Before sowing your seeds, make sure to read the seed packets
carefully. They provide lots of important information, including how
much spacing to leave between seeds, growing season, and what kind of
sun exposure they prefer.
When it comes to watering your herbs,
keep in mind that overwatering is more likely to kill them than
underwatering. A great trick to assess the soilβs moisture level is to
stick your finger an inch or two in the pot.
If itβs still quite moist, skip
watering. If the soil is loose, then itβs time to hydrate your herbs.
Aromatic plants enjoy less frequent yet thorough waterings rather than
superficial frequent waterings. The latter can encourage roots to come
to the soilβs surface to draw water, which you want to avoid. You want a
deep root system that provides your plant with stability and strength.
Seeds or Seedlings?
Just like any other plant, you can either start herbs from seed or buy them as young plants β or seedlings β at your local plant nursery. Even though starting with seeds has its advantages, you may feel more confident going for seedlings if this is your first attempt at growing herbs.
If youβre looking for a foolproof growing kit for beginners, check out Back to the Rootβs kitchen herb garden kit,
which comes with everything you need to start your own herb corner. It
features organic basil, mint, and cilantro seeds, and a custom soil
blend that provides your herbs with all the nutrients they need to grow
strong and sturdy.
Back to the Roots growing kits also
come with a zero-risk gardening policy. In other words, youβll get new
seeds until you grow your herbs successfully.
Annual, Biennial, and Perennial Herbs
All plants fall into one of three
categories β annual, biennial, and perennial β and herbs are no
exception. Itβs essential to know which plant is what, so you know how
they behave and what to expect when you start to grow your culinary
herbs.
- Annual herbs:
This variety germinates, blooms, sets seeds, and dies all in one year.
They will only come back to life the following year if theyβve dropped
seeds that germinate successfully in the spring. Basil, cilantro, and
marjoram are examples of annual herbs. - Biennial herbs:
These plants have a life cycle of approximately two years, which means
they germinate and grow one year and bloom and die the year after.
Parsley and chives are biennial plants. - Perennial herbs:
Perennial plants live for many years. Depending on your local climate,
they may continue to provide through the winter months. More often than
not, they shed their leaves during the cold season (looking like dead,
dry sticks) as a protection mechanism. Perennials come back every year,
as they grow from the roots that have survived through the winter. Good
examples of this variety are thyme, mint, oregano, tarragon, and lemon
balm.
Harvesting
Harvesting is undoubtedly one of the
best and most enjoyable parts of herb growing. Itβs also necessary to
encourage new leaf and branch growth.
When youβre harvesting herbs, the
best course of action is to snip them just above a natural junction or
lead node. When you do this, youβre stimulating new growth, which will
branch out on each side and make your plants grow fuller.
Annual herbs prefer small, regular
clippings until the end of their growing season or first frost. On the
other hand, perennials can handle a good prune, especially once the warm
season is in full swing. If you live in an area that commonly freezes
during the winter months, itβs best to avoid heavy pruning past August.
Once an aromatic herb starts to bloom
and flower, this is usually a clear signal that they are ready to begin
forming seeds and eventually hibernate for the season.
When this occurs, the edible leaves
become smaller, tougher, and more bitter. If you want to delay this,
simply pinch or snip off the flowering tips as soon as they pop out. If
they persist, itβs best to cut the entire flowering stem. By removing
the flowers, youβre ensuring your plant is directing its energy on
growing leaves.
9 Easy Herbs To Kick-Start Your Herb Garden
Now that you know the basics on how
to grow herbs, youβre ready to find out which aromatic plants are the
easiest and most versatile for your space. These are all traditional
herbs that will add that extra boost of flavor to your favorite dishes
and take your cooking to the next level.
1. Basil
If you love pizza, pesto, and
bruschettas, you must grow basil. Thereβs nothing quite like
freshly-picked basil sprinkled on top of a hot Margherita pizza. This
classic Italian herb loves regular clipping, as it helps the plant grow
less leggy β weak stems that make it floppy β and more rounded.
If you love fresh pesto, plant a
couple of basil plants to have a fresh supply anytime you crave this
delicious green sauce. Sowing the seeds 12-16 inches apart will ensure
the plants have plenty of space to grow.
2. Chives
Chives, along with spring onions, are
the ultimate savory garnish. Chopped chives are great sprinkled on top
of soups, roasted potatoes, avocado toast, and smoked salmon and cream
cheese bagels.
Itβs one of the easiest culinary
herbs to grow, and itβs great to build up a new gardenerβs confidence.
Make sure you plant them 4-6 inches apart and cut them two inches above
the soil every time you harvest. They usually grow back in the early
spring.
3. Cilantro
If you get confused about cilantro
and coriander, news flash: theyβre the same thing. You call the leaves
cilantro and say coriander when talking about the seeds. Mystery solved!
This super versatile herb is common
in many different cuisines from Mexican to Mediterranean to Asian. Itβs
perfect for chopping and adding to dishes to give them a fresh,
herbaceous taste.
However, when it comes to cilantro, you either love it or hate it.
This is due to this herbβs richness in aldehydes, a compound also found
in soap. Some people have a gene that allows them to detect this
substance, and theyβll claim that when they chew cilantro, it tastes
like a soap bar.
Plant your cilantro plants 6-8 inches
apart and make sure you protect them from the hot summer sun, as
theyβll bolt quickly and try to drop seeds fast.
4. Lemon Balm
Like chamomile, lemon balm is one of
the best calming herbs and valuable addition to your herb garden. Itβs
part of the mint family, and once you smell it, youβll detect a
delicious mix between mint and lemon. Use it fresh in desserts, salads,
to brew tea, and as a garnish for cocktails.
It should be consumed fresh and not
cooked. Otherwise, it will lose all its beautiful aroma. Itβs quite
handy in herb gardening as it helps to repel mosquitoes and other pests.
It spreads quite vigorously like mint, so plant it by itself or with
another variety of the same family. Leave 12-18 inches between seeds to
allow for healthy growth.
5. Mint
When you think about summer herbs,
the first thing that might pop into your head is mint. This classic
aromatic herb has a distinct fresh smell that will go great with summer
salads, cocktails, and iced tea.
Chewing a few mint leaves or brewing them in tea is a common folk remedy for an upset stomach. This beautiful herb comes in many different varieties, so it may be challenging to choose just one.
For a more familiar smell, stick to
peppermint or spearmint. But if you love different aromatic herbs, keep
an eye out for chocolate mint. Its unique fragrance will remind you of
your favorite chocolate chip mint ice cream, and itβs great to brew some
comforting, cozy tea in the wintertime.
Like lemon balm, plant your mint inside containers, giving the seeds 18-24 inches of distance between them.
6. Oregano
Known to the ancient Greeks as βjoy
of the mountain,β oregano is another excellent herb to boost your
confidence when trying to earn a green thumb. This fragrant herb is not
only delicious, but it has also been studied for its antifungal and antibacterial properties.
Also called the βpizza herb,β itβs
almost impossible not to think about this favorite Italian dish when you
smell dried oregano. If you find this culinary herb too strong for your
taste, try marjoram β a milder, less pungent, and sweeter tasting
variety of oregano.
Itβs a prolific grower, so keep the seeds 8-10 inches apart when sowing the seeds.
7. Parsley
This leafy herb has a similar acidity
to that of lemons. Try chopping some fresh parsley and add it to a
salad to immediately experience the tanginess. For more flavor, never
cook it as it will lose all its taste and crunchy texture.
Expert gardeners claim that planting
parsley next to their rose bushes helps them grow healthier and enhances
the flowersβ fragrance. Provide a good 8-10 inches between each seed to
allow for healthy growth.
When harvesting, clip the stalks
which are further from the plantβs center to encourage more growth.
Donβt throw away the stems. Instead, chop them as they tend to hold more
flavor than the actual leaves themselves.
8. Tarragon
This lesser-known herb β also known
as French tarragon β is the perfect combination of sweet and bitter, a
bit like licorice. If you love making sauces, vinaigrettes, and
marinades, tarragon should be an essential addition to your herb
garden.
When sowing the seeds of this
perennial herb, make sure you leave a good 18-24 inches between each
plant as they grow quite bushy.
9. Thyme
Thyme is an earthy and sweet herb
that goes well with anything roasted. Potatoes, chicken, pumpkin, you
name it. It loves the sun, and it doesnβt need constant watering, so
itβs perfect for any would-be gardener living in a warm climate. When
sowing thyme seeds, make sure you leave 6-8 inches between them as this
plant grows rather bushy.
This Mediterranean herb loves being
trimmed, and the more you snip, the more it will grow. Thyme is quite
prolific, so if you end up with more thyme than you know what to do
with, try drying it. It tastes great dried and fresh. For a tangy
variety, look for lemon thyme.
Start Your Gardening Journey By Growing Herbs
If you think a veggie garden feels
like a daunting task for someone who has never planted anything,
starting with herb gardening can give you the skills and know-how to get
you started in the plant world.
Knowing how to grow herbs is not only
easy but incredibly fun and rewarding. You donβt need a lot of
resources or space. All you need is the knowledge found in this guide,
perseverance, and lots of love.
Volcano
(PSTMV)
NEWS
Electoral Reforms
Despite the fact that
‘It took EC 4 years to admit that EVMs could be hacked’
,
if any one suggests them to revert back to Paper Ballots the EC
questions “What is the Proof you have to say that the EVMs are fraud?”
in a typical brahminical way.
Here is
Proof No.1
http://www.rediff.com/news/
Proof No 3
with reference to
http://news.webindia123.com/
RSS favours paper ballots, EVMs subjected to public scrutiny Proof No 4
http://www.pcworld.com/
Security Analysis of India’s Electronic Voting Machines
Proof No 5
http://www.deccanchronicle.
Don’t stand on prestige, dump EVMs, save democracy
http://www.indianevm.com/
Proof No 6
http://www.indianevm.com/
Election Commission concedes manipulation of EVMs
Proof No 7
http://www.indianevm.com/
Don’t stand on prestige, dump EVMs: Naidu
Proof No 8
http://beta.thehindu.com/news/
EVM debate rages on, lets get rid of it.
Proof No 9 http://sowingseedsofthought.
Proof No 10 http://www.gmanews.tv/story/
‘EVMs illegally being used for a decade’
Proof No 11 http://timesofindia.
Linked on USA Today 23 Feb.
2010 http://content.usatoday.com/
Hackers can ’steal’ ballots from electronic voting machines- 2009 Electronic Voting Technology Workshop
Proof No 12 http://timesofindia.
Editorial: E-voting needs a paper trail
Proof No 13 http://washingtonexaminer.com/
Proof No 14 Source: http://www.indianevm.
Download:
Proof No 15 β¨http://www.ndtv.com/article/
Proof No 15
http://betanews.com/2015/04/
US electronic voting machines incredibly easy to hack
Electronic voting machines used for US elections between 2002 and
2014 would have been extremely easy to hack, according to reports.
The AVS WinVote machines were used during three presidential
campaigns in the state of Virginia and would receive an “F-minus” for
security, with many using “abcde” or “admin” as passwords.
Jeremy Epstein, of non-profit organization SRI International, who
served on the Virginia state legislative commission and has been
investigating the machines for some time, is relieved that they have now
been decertified.
“The vulnerabilities were so severe, and so trivial to exploit, that
anyone with even a modicum of training could have succeeded”, he explained.
“They didnβt need to be in the polling place — within a few hundred
feet (e.g., in the parking lot) is easy, and within a half mile with a
rudimentary antenna built using a Pringles can. Further, there are no
logs or other records that would indicate if such a thing ever happened,
so if an election was hacked any time in the past, we will never know”.
In an interview with the Guardian,
Epstein also explained that his conversations with Brit Williams, the
original certifier of the voting machines, had been equally concerning.
“I said, ‘How did you do a penetration test?’ and he said, ‘I donβt know how to do something like that’”.
The Virginia Technology Agency today published a report condemning
the WinVote machines, which have also been used for elections in
Mississippi and Pennsylvania. It found that the machines ran a version
of the Windows operating system that had not been updated since 2004,
leaving them susceptible to relatively simple malware and hacking
attempts.
The news comes at a time when the UK is preparing for its own vote,
with the general election scheduled for next month. Although electronic
voting, or e-voting will not be available this year, it is reported to
be in place for the 2020 election.
Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.
-
Driven
β’
8 months ago
anyone this is a surprise to hasn’t been paying attention. http://blackboxvoting.org/ has said this since 2004 and it is not exclusive to this one type of voting machine. It is trivial to exploit any of them.
Daniel
β’
8 months ago
Want to know a funny thing? The Brazilian voting machines already
come rigged, so the winner’s are already decided from the get go. -
Eric Sleeper
β’
8 months ago
Once I figured out that non-US citizens and people illegally here
(even worse) can vote, I have lost all hope on the election process.
Even a worse opinion of the politicians that continue to argue that no
real form of ID is required. Once you figure this out, you start to see
it’s hacked before even getting to the voting machines.
sgrandin
β’
8 months ago
Been known and reported on for many years. In fact, there have been
claims that hacking has already occurred in some elections. But this is
capitalistism, where voting is mostly for show, to keep the masses
thinking they determine things. -
korfuntu
β’
8 months ago
It is WAY past time for Congress to establish a non-partisan
standards committee for electronic voting machines, composed of experts
from all relevant technology components. This committee would create
mandatory security standards that ALL electronic voting machine
manufacturers must meet before their products can be used in any
election where Federal office holders are elected.
And while they are at it, they might start working on hack-proof standards to allow Internet voting.
This is the 21st century. It’s time we started acting like it.
Bob Grant
korfuntu
β’
8 months ago
First off, there is no such thing as ‘hack proof’. Anything can be hacked.
Second,
I wouldn’t trust the government to pick out the right nail to hang a
wall calendar, much less “experts” on technology. (I would trust their
chosen standards far less)
Proof No 17
http://www.popsci.com/gadgets/
How I Hacked An Electronic Voting Machine
What do you need to rig an election? A basic knowledge of
electronics and $30 worth of RadioShack gear, professional hacker Roger
Johnston reveals. The good news: we can stop it.
By Roger Johnston (as told to Suzanne LaBarre)
Posted November 5, 2012
Vulnerability Assessment Team at Argonne National Lab
A simple non-cyber attack on an electronic voting machine
Roger Johnston is the head of the Vulnerability Assessment Team
at Argonne National Laboratory. Not long ago, he and his colleagues
launched security attacks on electronic voting machines to demonstrate
the startling ease with which one can steal votes. Even more startling:
Versions of those machines will appear in polling places all over
America on Tuesday. The touchscreen Diebold Accuvote-TSX will be used by
more than 26 million voters in 20 states; the push-button Sequoia AVC
Voting Machine will be used by almost 9 million voters in four states, Harper’s magazine reported recently
(subscription required). Here, Johnston reveals how he hacked the
machines–and why anyone, from a high-school kid to an 80-year-old
grandmother, could do the same.–Ed
The Vulnerability Assessment Team at Argonne
National Laboratory looks at a wide variety of security devices– locks,
seals, tags, access control, biometrics, cargo security, nuclear
safeguards–to try to find vulnerabilities and locate potential fixes.
Unfortunately, there’s not much funding available in this country to
study election security. So we did this as a Saturday afternoon type of
project.
It’s called a man-in-the-middle attack. It’s a classic attack on
security devices. You implant a microprocessor or some other electronic
device into the voting machine, and that lets you control the voting and
turn cheating on and off. We’re basically interfering with transmitting
the voter’s intent.
We used a logic analyzer. Digital communication is a series of zeros
and ones. The voltage goes higher, the voltage goes lower. A logic
analyzer collects the oscillating voltages between high and low and then
will display for you the digital data in a variety of formats. But
there all kinds of way to do it. You can use a logic analyzer, you can
use a microprocessor, you can use a computer–basically, anything that
lets you see the information that’s being exchanged and then lets you
know what to do to mimic the information.
I’ve been to high school science fairs where the kids had more
sophisticated microprocessor projects.So we listened to the
communications going on between the voter, who in the case of one
machine is pushing buttons (it’s a push-button voting machine) and in
the other is touching things on a touchscreen. Then we listened to the
communication going on between the smarts of the machine and the voter.
Let’s say I’m trying to make Jones win the election, and you might vote
for Smith. Then my microprocessor is going to tell the smarts of the
machine to vote for Jones if you try to vote for Smith. But if you’re
voting for Jones anyway, I’m not going to tamper with the
communications. Sometimes you block communications, sometimes you tamper
with information, sometimes you just look at it and let it pass on
through. That’s essentially the idea. Figure out the communications
going on, then tamper as needed, including with the information being
sent back to the voter.
We can do this because most voting machines, as far as I can tell,
are not encrypted. It’s just open standard format communication. So it’s
pretty easy to figure out information being exchanged. Anyone who does
digital electronics–a hobbyist or an electronics fan–could figure this
out.
The device we implanted in the touchscreen machine was essentially
$10 retail. If you wanted a deluxe version where you can control it
remotely from a half a mile away, it’d cost $26 retail. It’s not big
bucks. RadioShack would have this stuff. I’ve been to high school
science fairs where the kids had more sophisticated microprocessor
projects than the ones needed to rig these machines.
Because there’s no funding for this type of security-testing, we
relied on people who buy used machines on eBay [in this case the
touchscreen Diebold Accuvote TS Electronic Voting Machine and the
push-button Sequoia AVC Advantage Voting Machine]. Both of the machines
were a little out-of-date, and we didn’t have user manuals and circuit
diagrams. But we figured things out, in the case of the push-button
machine, in under two hours. Within 2 hours we had a viable attack. The
other machine took a little longer because we didn’t fully understand
how touchscreen displays worked. So we had learning time there. But that
was just a couple days. It’s like a magic trick. You’ve got to practice
a lot. If we practiced a lot, or even better, if we got someone really
good with his hands who practiced a lot for two weeks, we’re looking at
15 seconds to 60 seconds go execute these attacks.
I want to move it to the point where grandma can’t hack elections.
We’re really not there.The attacks require physical access. This is easy
for insiders, who program the machines for an election or install them.
And we would argue it’s typically not that hard for outsiders. A lot of
voting machines are sitting around in the church basement, the
elementary school gymnasium or hallway, unattended for a week or two
before the election. Usually they have really cheap cabinet locks anyone
can pick; sometimes they don’t even have locks on them. No one signs
for the machines when they show up. No one’s responsible for watching
them. Seals on them aren’t much different from the anti-tamper packaging
found on food and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. Think about
tampering with a food or drug product: You think that’s challenging?
It’s really not. And a lot of our election judges are little old ladies
who are retired, and God bless them, they’re what makes the elections
work, but they’re not necessarily a fabulous workforce for detecting
subtle security attacks.
Give people checking the seals a little training as to what to look
for, and now they have a chance to detect a reasonably sophisticated
attack. Do good background checks on insiders, and that insider threat
would be much less of a concern. Overall, there’s a lack of a good
security culture. We can have flawed voting machines, but if we have a
good security culture, we can still have good elections. On the other
hand, we can have fabulous machines, but if the security culture is
inadequate, it doesn’t really matter. We’ve really got to look at a
bigger picture. Our view is: It’s always going to be hard to stop James
Bond. But I want to move it to the point where grandma can’t hack
elections, and we’re really not there.
Watch the Video:
http://www.popsci.com/gadgets/
Proof No 18
Law & Disorder
/
Civilization & Discontents
Meet the e-voting machine so easy to hack, it will take your breath away
Virginia decertifies device that used weak passwords and wasn’t updated in 10 years.
by Dan Goodin
- Apr 16, 2015 12:25am IST
Virginia election officials have decertified an electronic voting
system after determining that it was possible for even unskilled people
to surreptitiously hack into it and tamper with vote counts.
The AVS WINVote,
made by Advanced Voting Solutions, passed necessary voting systems
standards and has been used in Virginia and, until recently, in
Pennsylvania and Mississippi. It used the easy-to-crack passwords of
“admin,” “abcde,” and “shoup” to lock down its Windows administrator
account, Wi-Fi network, and voting results database respectively,
according to a scathing security review published Tuesday
by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency. The agency conducted
the audit after one Virginia precinct reported that some of the devices
displayed errors that interfered with vote counting during last
November’s elections.
The weak passwordsβwhich are hard-coded and can’t be changedβwere
only one item on a long list of critical defects uncovered by the
review. The Wi-Fi network the machines use is encrypted with wired equivalent privacy,
an algorithm so weak that it takes as little as 10 minutes for
attackers to break a network’s encryption key. The shortcomings of WEP
have been so well-known that it was banished in 2004 by the IEEE,
the world’s largest association of technical professionals. What’s
more, the WINVote runs a version of Windows XP Embedded that hasn’t
received a security patch since 2004, making it vulnerable to scores of
known exploits that completely hijack the underlying machine. Making
matters worse, the machine uses no firewall and exposes several
important Internet ports.
“Because the WINVote devices use insecure security protocols, weak
passwords, and unpatched software, the WINVote devices operate with a
high level of risk,” researchers with the Virginia Information
Technologies Agency wrote in Tuesday’s report. “The security testing by
VITA proved that the vulnerabilities on the WINVote devices can allow a
malicious party to compromise the confidentiality and integrity of
Voting data.”
Putting it to the test
To prove their claim the machine was vulnerable to real-world hacks,
the auditors were able to use the remote desktop protocol to gain remote
access to the voting machines. They also used readily available hacking
and diagnostic software to map, access, and transfer data from default
shared network locations including C$, D$, ADMIN$, and IPC$. After
downloading the database that stores the results of each vote, the
auditors required just 10 seconds to figure out its password was “shoup”
(named after the company name that preceded Advanced Voting Solutions).
The auditors were then able to copy the database, modify its contents
to tamper with recorded votes, and copy it back to the voting machine.
It’s hard to find plain words that convey just how bad the security
of this machine is. It’s even harder to fathom so many critical defects
resided in a line of machines that has played a crucial role in the US’
democratic system for so many years. Jeremy Epstein, a security expert
specializing in e-voting, summarized the threat brilliantly in a post published Wednesday morning to the Freedom to Tinker blog. He wrote:
As one of my colleagues taught me, BLUFβBottom Line Up
Front. If an election was held using the AVS WinVote, and it wasnβt
hacked, it was only because no one tried. The vulnerabilities were so
severe, and so trivial to exploit, that anyone with even a modicum of
training could have succeeded. They didnβt need to be in the polling
placeβwithin a few hundred feet (e.g., in the parking lot) is easy, and
within a half mile with a rudimentary antenna built using a Pringles
can. Further, there are no logs or other records that would indicate if
such a thing ever happened, so if an election was hacked any time in the
past, we will never know.
He went on to write:
Iβve been in the security field for 30 years, and it
takes a lot to surprise me. But the VITA report really shocked meβas bad
as I thought the problems were likely to be, VITAβs five-page report
showed that they were far worse. And the WinVote system was so fragile
that it hardly took any effort. While the report does not state how much
effort went into the investigation, my estimation based on the
description is that it was less than a person week.
And finally, he wrote:
So how would someone use these vulnerabilities to change an election?
- Take your laptop to a polling place, and sit outside in the parking lot.
- Use a free sniffer to capture the traffic, and use that to figure out the WEP password (which VITA did for us).
- Connect to the voting machine over WiFi.
- If asked for a password, the administrator password is βadminβ (VITA provided that).
- Download the Microsoft Access database using Windows Explorer.
- Use a free tool to extract the hardwired key (βshoupβ), which VITA also did for us.
- Use Microsoft Access to add, delete, or change any of the votes in the database.
- Upload the modified copy of the Microsoft Access database back to the voting machine.
- Wait for the election results to be published.
It’s good that Virginia will no longer use this machine. Still, given
how long it took for the vulnerabilities to be identified, the report
raises serious questions about the security of electronic voting and the
certification process election officials use to determine if a given
machine can be trusted.
Story updated to change “national” to “necessary” in the second paragraph.
Promoted Comments
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BradleyUffnerSmack-Fu Master, in training
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Syonyk wrote:At
what point does one just conclude that voting machines are this weak by
design because a proper, secure, honest vote won’t generate the desired
election results?If it was deliberate then it wouldn’t
have been this easy to discover. The back doors would have been hidden
much better. This only comes from incompetence.
22 posts | registered Dec 9, 2014
Proof No 2
http://www.
Details
CJI SADHASIVAM, shirked its duty & committed a grave error of
judgment by allowing in phased manner Fraud Tamperable EVMs on the
request of CEC SAMPATH because of Rs.1600 crore cost to replace them
and dealt a fatal blow to the Countryβs democracy.β¨Ex CJI did not order
for ballot paper system to be brought in. No such precautionary measure
was decreed by the apex court. Ex CJI did not order that till the time
this newer set of about 13,00,000 voting machines is manufactured in
full & deployed totally. All the people in 80 democracies in the
world who simply done away with fradulent EVMs should not recognise
Modi & his Government. These Insecure EVMs must be scraped by the CJI to order for Fresh
elections to Lok Sabha and all the State Assembly elections conducted with paper ballots to save
Democracy, Liberty, Fraternity and Equality a Enshrined in the
Constitution.
This act of CJI and CEC helped the Murderer of
democratic institutions (Modi) remotely controlled by 1% chitpawan
brahmin Rowdy Swayam Sevaks gobble the MASTER KEY which goes against the
interest of 99% Sarvajans including SC/STs/OBCs/Minorities/poor upper castes’
liberty, fraternity and equality as enshrined in our Constitution
fathered by Babasaheb Dr BR Ambedkar.
act is itself is proof that the EVMs are vulnerable to fraud for which
they must be punished because of their practice of hatred which is
madness requiring treatment of Insight meditation in mental asylum.
present CJI must dismiss the central and all the State Governments
selected by these fraud EVMs and order for fresh elections with paper
ballots which are followed by 80 democracies around the world.
Ms Mayawati who could not win even a single seat in the last Lok sabha
Elections because of the tampering of these fraud EVMs won more than 80 %
votes in the last UP Panchayat elections conducted through paper
ballots. That is another proof of vulnerability of these fraud EVMs.
All the future elections have to be conducted through paper ballots.
Then Ms Mayawati will not only become the CM of UP but also the next PM
of Prabuddha Bharath.
BSP
is not only a political party but also a movement of societal change.
Hence this technological game of 1% Chitpawan RSS plan has to be
defeated by strengthening the 99% intellectuals by exposing the
fradulent EVMs as done by 80 democracies of the world in the larger
interest of Sarvajan Hitaye Sarvajan Sukhaye i.e., for the peace,
happiness and welfare of all societies including SC/STs/ OBCs/
Minorities and the poor brahmins and baniyas for distributing the wealth
of this country among all sections of the society as enshrined in the
Constitution by making the Supreme Court to pass orders to replace all
fradulent EVMs and till such time to scrap all elections conducted by
these fradulent EVMs and then to conduct elections with tamper proof
voting system like paper ballots to save democracy, equality, fraternity and liberty.
Latino Clout Turns on Supreme Court
The Green leader said: ‘If there is no
one on the ballot paper who you think represents your views, still go
to the polling station and if you want to write a rude word on the
ballot paper’
