On April Fools, the world braced for the effects of a computer worm that affects Microsoft’s Windows operating system. Called Conficker C, the worm is believed to have infected millions of computers – zombies that can then be placed under the control of a master computer once the worm is activated on April Fools’ Day. Anti-worm researchers are trying to track down the source of the so-called April Fools Virus but acknowledge that they have little chance of success.
Computers may collect and deliver information, including votes, within seconds, but the system is not perfect. This must always be borne in mind as the nation prepares for its first fully automated elections. A recent report said hackers broke into the computer files of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
In May 2000, the “I love you” virus, which infected up to 50 million computers worldwide including those at the Pentagon, the Central Intelligence Agency and the British Parliament, causing some $5.5 billion in damage, was traced to a Filipino, Onel de Guzman. Because of the absence at the time of laws governing cyber crimes, De Guzman was not prosecuted.
There are other hackers out there who may wreak havoc during the elections next year. They can do this inadvertently, or deliberately out of sheer mischief. Or they can be hired by unscrupulous groups to manipulate election results. This is the biggest fear of those who are torn between the advantage of getting election results within a day through automation and the danger that the results may be compromised. Those calling for partial automation or hybrid elections in fact included individuals who feared that automation would simply make cheating easier.
In forging ahead with full automation, the pluses still outweigh the minuses. Fears of computerized cheating must be overcome not by stalling automation but by protecting the new voting system from hacking. The Commission on Elections has started the bidding process for the automated counting machines and software. Once these are acquired, without a corruption scandal this time, the items must be put through several tests for glitches and possible ways of rigging the vote. The nation must make poll modernization a success.