http://www.indianexpress.com/
Geeta Gupta
Tags : American computer scientist not allowed to enter India, J Alex Halderman, India EVMs vulnerable to fraud
Posted: Mon Dec 13 2010, 03:46 hrs
New Delhi:
An American computer scientist, J Alex Halderman, who had co-authored a study titled “India’s EVMs are vulnerable to fraud”, was not allowed to enter the country after landing at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here on Sunday evening. Airport sources said he would be deported, but offered no reason for the action.
Speaking to The Indian Express from the airport, Halderman said: “I am about to be thrown out of this country and there is no reason anyone is giving me. There is just no explanation, they are not letting me enter.”
Halderman, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of Michigan, was here to attend a technical conference in Gujarat.
In February this year, top researchers from India, US and Netherlands, had come up with a study which said that EVMs are prone to tampering. Halderman and his Indian co-author, Hari K Prasad, were part of the group.
Earlier, the Election Commission had challenged Prasad to demonstrate how EVMs could be tampered with. The EC, however, withheld access to the EVMs.
In his blog about the study, Halderman wrote: “Despite widespread reports of election irregularities and suspicions of electronic fraud, the Election Commission has never permitted security researchers to complete an independent evaluation. Hari and others in India repeatedly offered to collaborate with the Election Commission to better understand the security of the machines, but they were not permitted to complete a serious review.”
He added: “Indian election authorities have repeatedly claimed that the machines are ‘tamperproof,’ but we demonstrated important vulnerabilities by studying a machine provided by an anonymous source. The story took a disturbing turn when my co-author, Hari Prasad, was arrested by Indian authorities demanding to know the identity of that source.”
EVMs van be tampered with By: Gopu T R | 13-Dec-2010 Reply | Forward How election commission can take an ADAMANT stand that it would not allow experts to examine its vulnarability. In todays world all electronic mechines can be tampered, communications can be intercepted, Internet hacking possible. So EVMs should be allowed to be checked by experts. There were doubt about the UPA victory after 2009 elections. EVMs are not fool proof.
Observation By: Concerned Citizen | 13-Dec-2010 Reply | Forward If there is a concern regarding the EVMs, it should be cleared either by providing proof about how it was handled then or by performing a test now. Arresting or withholding information or keeping quiet does not remove the concern at all but only increases our own doubt as to the rightful function of the EVMs in our democracy. Our country is already ripe with lots of scams and problems, even to the highest level. Simply by dismissing these concerns as baseless does not do any good to solving these problems. Rather, it undermines our confidence in our governance. It is the duty of the government and the officials responsible to handle the matter in an open manner. If these concerns were to have any truth and the government acted in a dismissive manner, it would be a grave situation to handle then.
Deportation By: Indian | 13-Dec-2010 Reply | Forward It is bad on part of Indian democracy. Deporting US professor with out giving reason is unpardonable. It proves that Election Commission is corrupt and cooking up with POwerful Politicians.
dal me kala.. By: bodhlal | 13-Dec-2010 Reply | Forward something is fishy after this knee jerk reaction of the govt. let the election commission clear the suspicion once and for all by inviting the deported gentleman and co. to prove the claim about EVM.
Sun, 12 Dec 2010
US prof behind EVM [Electronic Voting Machine] study deported on arrival
Geeta Gupta
Tags : American computer scientist not allowed to enter India, J Alex Halderman, India EVMs vulnerable to fraud
Posted: Mon Dec 13 2010, 03:46 hrs
New Delhi:
An American computer scientist, J Alex Halderman, who had co-authored a study titled “India’s EVMs are vulnerable to fraud”, was not allowed to enter the country after landing at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here on Sunday evening. Airport sources said he would be deported, but offered no reason for the action.
Speaking to The Indian Express from the airport, Halderman said: “I am about to be thrown out of this country and there is no reason anyone is giving me. There is just no explanation, they are not letting me enter.”
Halderman, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of Michigan, was here to attend a technical conference in Gujarat.
In February this year, top researchers from India, US and Netherlands, had come up with a study which said that EVMs are prone to tampering. Halderman and his Indian co-author, Hari K Prasad, were part of the group.
Earlier, the Election Commission had challenged Prasad to demonstrate how EVMs could be tampered with. The EC, however, withheld access to the EVMs.
In his blog about the study, Halderman wrote: “Despite widespread reports of election irregularities and suspicions of electronic fraud, the Election Commission has never permitted security researchers to complete an independent evaluation. Hari and others in India repeatedly offered to collaborate with the Election Commission to better understand the security of the machines, but they were not permitted to complete a serious review.”
He added: “Indian election authorities have repeatedly claimed that the machines are ‘tamperproof,’ but we demonstrated important vulnerabilities by studying a machine provided by an anonymous source. The story took a disturbing turn when my co-author, Hari Prasad, was arrested by Indian authorities demanding to know the identity of that source.”
Readers' Comments:
Anti-politician By: D'mans | 13-Dec-2010 Reply | Forward anything against the politicians is banned, not to be discussed and considered antinational, be it equipment,news, film, graft, bribe etc
EVMs van be tampered with By: Gopu T R | 13-Dec-2010 Reply | Forward How election commission can take an ADAMANT stand that it would not allow experts to examine its vulnarability. In todays world all electronic mechines can be tampered, communications can be intercepted, Internet hacking possible. So EVMs should be allowed to be checked by experts. There were doubt about the UPA victory after 2009 elections. EVMs are not fool proof.
Observation By: Concerned Citizen | 13-Dec-2010 Reply | Forward If there is a concern regarding the EVMs, it should be cleared either by providing proof about how it was handled then or by performing a test now. Arresting or withholding information or keeping quiet does not remove the concern at all but only increases our own doubt as to the rightful function of the EVMs in our democracy. Our country is already ripe with lots of scams and problems, even to the highest level. Simply by dismissing these concerns as baseless does not do any good to solving these problems. Rather, it undermines our confidence in our governance. It is the duty of the government and the officials responsible to handle the matter in an open manner. If these concerns were to have any truth and the government acted in a dismissive manner, it would be a grave situation to handle then.
Deportation By: Indian | 13-Dec-2010 Reply | Forward It is bad on part of Indian democracy. Deporting US professor with out giving reason is unpardonable. It proves that Election Commission is corrupt and cooking up with POwerful Politicians.
dal me kala.. By: bodhlal | 13-Dec-2010 Reply | Forward something is fishy after this knee jerk reaction of the govt. let the election commission clear the suspicion once and for all by inviting the deported gentleman and co. to prove the claim about EVM.
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