Reply #5: What "Test of Security" [View All]

[gristy]

And let's parse this quote from Diebold:

The company has worked to fix all security issues that researchers have described, said David Bear, a Diebold spokesman. "Those things have not only already been addressed," he said, "they were implemented."

The first sentence says they have (note past tense) worked to fix all security issues. So they're done working on it? Sigh. And very different from "have fixed all security issues".

The second sentence refers to something called "those things". A uncareful reader might think Diebold is referring to "security issue fixes", but that would not be allowed in a more rigorous reading of the quote, since the only noun the Diebold spokesman had referred to so far is "security issues". When I replace "security issues" for "Those things" and "they" in the second sentence, I get this:

"Security issues have not only already been addressed," he said, "security issues were implemented."

Oh, it you say, so. Idiot.

And then there's the headline for this friggin' article:

Electronic Vote Faces Big Test of Security

What test of security? If there's no paper record, no audit trail, there's nothing to friggin' test! The article is ok, but the headline writer is clearly not clued in.