new hampshire polling place

MIT Study Finds That Mobile Voting App Could Pose Cybersecurity Issues For Voters

Tech company Voatz is fighting back against research critical of its security protections, stating that researchers used an outdated version of the app and never examined Voatz servers.

As election officials increasingly consider the possibilities of online voting, particularly through smartphone apps, a new study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that one app is so insecure that no state should use it in the upcoming 2020 elections.

The app, created by tech startup Voatz, is already set to be used by thousands of voters as part of a small experiment in mobile voting, according to The New York Times. But MIT researchers reverse-engineered the app to find that security flaws would allow cyber attackers to view votes being cast and potentially change ballots or block them without the user finding out.

Most concerning of all is that the hackers would be able to mess up the paper trail of how the votes were cast originally, making it difficult for elections officials to conduct a “reliable audit,” the Times wrote.

“The choice here is not about turnout but about an adversary controlling the election result and a loss of voter privacy,” the report reads, according to the Times.

Before the report was released to the media, the MIT researchers took their concerns to the Department of Homeland Security, who coordinated a series of briefings with elections officials who were planning to try out the app this year.

DHS told the Times that no one is known to have taken advantage of the flaws found by the researchers, but that the department is continuing to “work with our partners to deepen understanding of the risk.”

The debate has become especially contentious because of Voatz’s response to the claims in the MIT report. Since the report was publicized on Thursday, the company has vehemently defended its app and said that the researchers acted in “bad faith” with their research and recommendations.

“It is clear that from the theoretical nature of the researchers’ approach, the lack of practical evidence backing their claims, their deliberate attempt to remain anonymous prior to publication, and their priority being to find media attention, that the researchers’ true aim is to deliberately disrupt the election process, to sow doubt in the security of our election infrastructure, and to spread fear and confusion,” Voatz said in a statement published on Feb. 13.

The company criticized the MIT researchers for analyzing an outdated Android version of the mobile voting app, not connecting to the Voatz servers and therefore not being subject to security protections and “fabricating an imagined version” of the servers.

“In short, to make claims about a backend server without any evidence or connection to the server negates any degree of credibility on behalf of the researchers,” the Voatz statement reads.

Elections officials are still deciding on how to move forward, caught between recommendations from cybersecurity researchers and the company pointing to previous tests that have produced no visible security issues.

The app “is not perfect — nothing is — and security is always a concern for us,” Donald Kersey, a senior election official in West Virginia, told the Times. “But this is about using new technologies that give us a way to make sure people who maybe can’t always vote have that opportunity.”

About the Author

Haley Samsel is an Associate Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

Featured

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services
  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

  • Report: Nearly 1 in 5 Healthcare Leaders Say Cyberattacks Have Impacted Patient Care

    Omega Systems, a provider of managed IT and security services, today released new research that reveals the growing impact of cybersecurity challenges on leading healthcare organizations and patient safety. According to the 2025 Healthcare IT Landscape Report, 19% of healthcare leaders say a cyberattack has already disrupted patient care, and more than half (52%) believe a fatal cyber-related incident is inevitable within the next five years. Read Now

New Products

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.

  • Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

    Connect ONE®

    Connect ONE’s powerful cloud-hosted management platform provides the means to tailor lockdowns and emergency mass notifications throughout a facility – while simultaneously alerting occupants to hazards or next steps, like evacuation.

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles.