Little room for EVM manipulation, aver experts
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‘Their architecture prevents any attempt to break into them without being detected’
Electronic voting machines (EVMs) with folks’s mandate locked inside will stay sealed in strongrooms for nearly a month until the votes are counted on May 2.
With EVMs not all the time past reproach a minimum of amongst a bit of the citizens who’ve persistently raised doubts about their sanctity, is there scope for any type of exterior manipulation exploiting the lengthy hole between voting and counting? Experts The Puucho spoke to largely dominated out such a risk.
“EVMs are a closed hardware system with little room for external interference remotely or through wireless technology. It can be manipulated only through physical access though even in that case, it cannot be broken into without being detected thanks to its architecture. Yes, a skilled electronic engineer may still manage to manipulate it, but it needs a lot of favourable factors to coincide making it an extreme possibility,” mentioned Rahul Sasi, a world cyber safety skilled.
He dominated out the potential of manipulating EVMs profiting from the prevailing excessive warmth circumstances additionally as extremely inconceivable. That, Mr. Sasi mentioned, required the era of excessive digital magnetic pulse utilizing mammoth tools, which might solely allow the wiping out of knowledge from EVMs and never their manipulation.
Sivahari Nandakumar, senior engineer with Keltron, mentioned that the management unit is switched off and the battery of the VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail) machine is eliminated on the finish of polling, leaving each useless gadgets with no room for exterior manipulation. They are then sealed and locked inside a field and moved to strongrooms within the presence of polling officers and election brokers of candidates.
“In fact, the control unit bearing data is protected by a triple seal, which could be stamped by election agents in whose presence they are unsealed on the counting day. Any kind of manipulation of EVMs requires physical access that needs extensive conspiracy involving polling officials, cops guarding strongrooms, and election agents, leaving it highly improbable,” mentioned Mr. Nandakumar.
Former civil servant and activist Kannan Gopinathan mentioned that whereas he was not competent to touch upon EVM vulnerability throughout their lengthy storage interval until counting, he reiterated the argument that the Election Commission’s declare all alongside that EVMs have been standalone gadgets remained disproved with the introduction of VVPAT machines.
“EVMs are connected to external devices to upload the names and symbols of candidates after randomisation, and the choice is made about the constituency and booth to which they are deployed. My apprehension about this serious lapse was officially raised with the Election Commission, and when it did not evoke any response, I was forced to go public with it,” he mentioned.
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