Skip to main content ITU

ITU

Programmes
- Exchange student
- Become an exchange student
- Guest Students
- Who can be a guest student?
- ITU Summer University
- Open House
- Open House - BSc programmes
- Open House - MSc programmes
Professional Education
- Contact
- Contact us here
Research
Collaboration
About ITU
DK

ITU researcher’s hack of a US voting machine makes headlines around the world

ITU / Press / News from ITU / ITU researcher’s hack of a US voting machine makes headlines around the world

ITU researcher’s hack of a US voting machine makes headlines around the world

Carsten Schürmann, Associate Professor at the IT University of Copenhagen, hacked an American WINVote machine at DEF CON, one of the world's largest hacker conventions. The hack has now been receiving a lot attention in some of the worlds most influential media.

Carsten Schürmann Computer Science Department Research algorithms democracy digitization e-government innovation IT security management

Written 1 August, 2017 10:10 by Jari Kickbusch

Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Politico, USA Today, CBS News are just a few of the many media organisations who have reported about a hack conducted by Carsten Schürmann, Associate Professor at the IT University of Copenhagen.

Carsten Schürmann attended DEF CON, one of the world's largest hacker conventions, in Las Vegas. In the so-called Voting Machine Hacking Village, attendants were invited to hack voting machines. Shortly after his arrival, Carsten Schürmann demonstrated how to attack a WINVote machine remotely, a voting machine that was used in several states in US elections between 2004 and 2015.

Conducting the hack that Carsten Schürmann did, an attacker could change the vote totals stored on the machine, observe voters while they are voting or simply turn off the machine any time during voting day. Since the WINVote voting machine does not provide a paper trail, changes in the database would not be detectable.

Lots of insecure voting technology
The poor security record of the WINVote machine have been criticized by election technology researchers for years. As head of the Demtech project, which investigates how technology affects the trust of the voters, Carsten Schürmann has extensive experience with hacking voting machines, and his WINVote hack in Las Vegas wasn’t his first. However, he is happy about the high level of media attention, which shows how important the topic of election integrity has become for the voters.

"There will be important elections in the US in 2018 and 2020, where other nation states may want to exercise undue influence. It is important to take the right steps now, to make sure that these results are credible”, Carsten Schürmann ends.

11 international stories about the hack:

WALL STREET JOURNAL

FORBES

POLITICO

ACM

THE HILL

WIRED

CBS NEWS

PBS

USA TODAY

THE INDEPENDENT

DIE ZEIT

EL TRIBUNO

News

Professor portrait: Thomas Binder's research connects to a changing world

Professor portrait: Thomas Binder's research connects to a changing world

On 19 June 2025 at 14:30, Professor Thomas Binder will give his inaugural lecture in Auditorium 0 at the IT University of Copenhagen. The lecture is entitled: “What design can do and how it matters”.

Professor portrait: Veronika Cheplygina improves the field of machine learning through meta-research

Professor portrait: Veronika Cheplygina improves the field of machine learning through meta-research

On 10 June 2025 at 14:30, Professor Veronika Cheplygina will present her inaugural lecture in Auditorium 0 at the IT University of Copenhagen. The lecture is entitled: “Not real research”.

"The aim is our trust"

"The aim is our trust"

As part of the Danish Science Festival, the IT University and the newspaper Dagbladet Information gathered a number of experts to discuss cyber warfare in Denmark and how prepared we are for it. The Minister of Resilience and Preparedness, Thorsten Schack Pedersen, also participated in the talk.

Professor portrait: Nutan Limaye is pushing the boundaries of complexity theory

Professor portrait: Nutan Limaye is pushing the boundaries of complexity theory

On 22 May 2025 at 14:30, Professor Nutan Limaye from the section Theoretical Computer Science will present her inaugural lecture in Auditorium 0 at the IT University of Copenhagen. The lecture is entitled “My reflections on the last two decades and Complexity Theory”.

Professor portrait Anna Vallgårda challenges the design of care technology

Professor portrait Anna Vallgårda challenges the design of care technology

On 9 May 2025 at 14:30, Professor Anna Vallgårda will give her inaugural lecture in Auditorium 0 at the IT University of Copenhagen. The lecture is entitled: ”Radical Redesign of Care Technologies”.

Is Denmark prepared for cyberwarfare?

Is Denmark prepared for cyberwarfare?

A group of researchers from the IT University of Copenhagen is investigating what Denmark can learn from Ukraine in terms of preparing for cyberwarfare. Cyberwarfare does not just affect governments and companies, but also civilians, and the researchers ask what should be done if we come under attack.

Researchers aim to teach math students critical thinking with data science

Researchers aim to teach math students critical thinking with data science

In a new research project at the IT University of Copenhagen and the University of Copenhagen, a group of researchers will investigate how data science can become part of high school mathematics education to provide students with a better foundation for critical thinking and the ability to illuminate and nuance claims they encounter in their daily lives.

ITU researcher secures grant to improve safety of AI systems

ITU researcher secures grant to improve safety of AI systems

At Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Japan, Associate Professor Alessandro Bruni from ITU is currently conducting research on the mathematical foundation for developing verifiably correct machine learning frameworks. The project is supported by the Carlsberg Foundation.

Professor portrait: Vasilis Galis found his way in research on the Athens metro

Professor portrait: Vasilis Galis found his way in research on the Athens metro

On 28 March 2025 at 14:30, Professor Vasilis Galis from the section Technologies in Practice will present his inaugural lecture in Auditorium 0 at the IT University of Copenhagen. The lecture is entitled “Research against dead time”.

ITU researcher investigates elections in Greenland

ITU researcher investigates elections in Greenland

On 11 March 2025, the election for Inatsisartut (Greenland's parliament) will take place. For several years, researchers from ITU, led by Professor Carsten Schürmann and Center for Information Security and Trust, have been investigating election and the possibility of internet elections in Greenland, and the election today is no exception.

IRFD funded ITU project to develop theoretical foundation for probabilistic session types

IRFD funded ITU project to develop theoretical foundation for probabilistic session types

The increasing technological complexity makes probabilistic understanding and management of critical computing systems a necessity. A new research project, led by Associate Professor Marco Carbone, aims to develop the foundation for probabilistic session types to that end.

Urban highways are barriers to social connections

Urban highways are barriers to social connections

Researchers from IT University of Copenhagen have proved that urban highways limit social connections in the 50 largest cities in the US. It is the first ever quantitative evaluation of the barrier effect of urban highways in reducing social connections across neighborhoods.

New research to find efficient strategies for prevention of epidemics

New research to find efficient strategies for prevention of epidemics

26 February, 2025

Assistant Professor at ITU, Jonas Juul, receives a Novo Nordisk Foundation Data Science Investigator grant of DKK 6.5 million for a project that aims to improve statistical methods for predicting outbreaks of infections.

Within Limits – an exhibition on computation and constraint

Within Limits – an exhibition on computation and constraint

24 February, 2025

On 7 March, join Artist Jacob Remin, Associate Professor James Maguire and Postdoc Frauke Mennes from the Center for Climate IT at ITU for the launch of Within Limits – an art installation that questions and reimagines the scalar logics inherent in computational worlds.

ITU students and alumni win awards at Copenhagen Gaming Week

ITU students and alumni win awards at Copenhagen Gaming Week

21 February, 2025

ITU was represented with games developed by both students and alumni from the university at Copenhagen Gaming Week and ‘Spilprisen’ that took place last week. Students from the MSc Games won the award for ’Best Student Game’, while alumni from the same study programme won for ‘Best Debut’.

New research project to find a more inclusive way to develop algorithms

New research project to find a more inclusive way to develop algorithms

10 February, 2025

Associate Professor Veronika Cheplygina has received a Novo Nordisk Data Science Investigator Grant of almost DKK 11 million. The grant will fund research on how more inclusive teaching and research environments may lead to better algorithms for medical imaging.

Thesis on digital divide in prisons wins award

Thesis on digital divide in prisons wins award

31 January, 2025

Three students from ITU have won the Danish Institute for Human Rights' Thesis Award for their thesis "The Digital Divide in Prisons". The thesis examines how the digital divide between inmates in Danish prisons and the surrounding society can be bridged.

New ITU research analyses attacks on Large Language Models

New ITU research analyses attacks on Large Language Models

16 January, 2025

What are the intentions and profile of someone trying to use LLMs for malicious purposes? And how do they do it? In a new study, researchers from ITU define so-called “red teaming” of LLMs to enable better security in the future.

Jakob Grue Simonsen named new prorector at IT University in Copenhagen

Jakob Grue Simonsen named new prorector at IT University in Copenhagen

22 November, 2024

Jakob Grue Simonsen, who comes from a position as head of department at the Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen, will focus on well-being and collaboration when he takes over as prorector at ITU on 1 January 2025.

IT University of Copenhagen reveals two new members of management

IT University of Copenhagen reveals two new members of management

18 November, 2024

At IT University of Copenhagen, future head of education, Luís Cruz-Filipe (L), and future head of research, Morten Hjelholt (R), will become part of the university management when both take up their positions on 1 February and 1 January 2025 respectively.

Contact us

Phone

+45 7218 5000

E-mail

All contact information

Web Accessibility Statement

Find us

IT University of Copenhagen
Rued Langgaards Vej 7
DK-2300 Copenhagen S
Denmark

How to get here

Follow us

ITU Student /
Privacy /
EAN-nr. 5798000417878/
CVR-nr. 29 05 77 53 /
P-nummer 1005162959

This page is printed from https://www.itu.dk/404

Fejl i tilmelding