ELECTRONIC BALLOT MACHINES AND THEIR ATM COUSINS

So, a couple of months ago I was at a local mall (either the Fox Hills or the Westside Pavillion, can't recall which) and I noticed that the ATM I was about to stick my card into was a Diebold brand ATM. Yep, it displayed the Diebold logo all proud, as though it had nothing to be ashamed of.

That's when it hit me--Diebold, the company behind the whipping boy for the anti-electronic ballot machine crowd (like myself) doesn't just make machines that are supposed to take in votes for our leaders and laws, but they also make machines that dispense cash. Then I remembered how a hotel wet bar key or the key you lock your office desk up with is said to unlock a Diebold ballot machine. Low and behold what did I see mere inches from the Diebold logo but a keyhole.

I was soooo tempted to grab one of those desk keys from work and test the theory. Sadly, I didn't feel like getting arrested (or even chancing it) so I didn't. However, the moment did remind me of [http://hackedgadgets.com/2006/09/22/atm-hack/|a post] I read a bunch of months ago over at HackedGadgets.Com that actually teaches you how to hack an ATM and how people tried out the instructions but chickened out before actually getting to the point where they told the machine to spit out some cash.

This was a good move on their part since those security cams have been known to identify a criminal or two and an arrest is a pain in the ass.

Still, it makes you wonder why more people don't exploit this kind of thing.

Of course, sometimes people do exploit them. Check out the pic to the left. That's a screengrab from [http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/25/windows-based-atm-machine-hacked-gets-painted/|a February 25, 2007 post] at Engadget.Com. In the post they describe how this Windows-based ATM was not only hacked but the hacker-on-the-spot managed to find MS Paint application where he then painted the most appropriate wallpaper for the machine. For anyone not familiar, "PWNED" is a play on the term "owned" when typed with too much enthusiasm. Using it means you're not only showing someone how they were hideously mistaken, but out incredibly pitiful they were for being THAT hideously mistaken.

Incidentally, [http://melissatogo.blogspot.com/2007/02/multimedia-message.html|the original blogger who posted the picture] also posted other pics of the same machine and included details that made me think this machine wasn't an ATM but was actually an automated movie ticket machine. Still, it's pretty bad since being able to hack a movie ticket machine could cost a theater a buttload of money.

In short, there's a gaping problem with trusting machines to keep our money safe. If our elections can't be assumed to be 100% safe, how can we trust that our money will be?

Then again, all that cash is only paper and the first ten-grand is FDIC insured. So, if you're going to hack one of these ATMs, be kind to the bank and only grab $10,000 per hack, that way they can get their money back. OH and if you do hack an ATM, take pictures and send them to me. :) I'll post 'em for all to see!

I wonder what other ways huge aspects of our society are balanced precariously on incredibly flimsy things like electronics...