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Netanyahu's party left Israel's entire voter registry exposed
Political parties have left voter records exposed before, but seldom on this scale. Haaretz has learned that Likud, the party of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, uploaded Israel's entire voter registry to the Elector voting management app, which had glaring security issues that effectively left the data wide open for days. You could even access the info through a web browser without tools or expertise. The collection included personal details (such as addresses and ID numbers) for nearly 6.5 million Israelis, including Netanyahu and other top politicians.
Florida governor says Russians accessed voter databases in 2016
Hackers from Russia gained access to voter databases in two Florida counties before the 2016 presidential election, Gov. Ron DeSantis said. While the hackers didn't compromise election results or manipulate any data, the fact that they gained access at all is significant.
DNC reports attempted cyberattack targeting its voter database
The Democratic National Committee appears to be the target of another cybersecurity attack, CNN reports, and it has alerted the FBI about a phishing attempt aimed at gaining access to its voter database. A fake login page created to look just like the one Democratic officials use to log into a service called Votebuilder was spotted by a the cybersecurity firm Lookout earlier this week. Lookout then informed the DNC of its findings.
Robocall company exposes hundreds of thousands of voter records
Hundreds of thousands of voter records were left exposed on an Amazon S3 bucket, ZDNet reports, this time by Virginia-based robocalling firm Robocent. Among the information that was left accessible were names, home addresses, gender, phone numbers, age, birth years, ethnicity, education and language spoken as well as state-provided or inferred political leanings such as "weak Democrat," "hard Republican" and "swing" voter. The cache contained nearly 2,600 files, including audio recordings of political messages.
What if Russian voter hacks were just part of its Facebook ad campaign?
This week's news that Russian Facebook ads targeted crucial swing states in the 2016 election changes what we know about the voter databases and software systems that were hacked into by Russian military intelligence in key battleground states. News that electronic election systems were hacked by Russian agents prior to the election hit headlines in June. But this was before Facebook was forced to admit that Russian political ads were used to influence voters thanks to the company's sniper-like ad-targeting precision.
Foreign hackers attacked two state election systems, FBI warns
Hackers outside of the United States attacked two state election databases in recent months and the FBI is warning voting officials across the country to bulk up security and investigate their own systems for similar malicious activity, Yahoo News reports. The twin hacks were outed in a "flash" alert from the FBI's Cyber Division. The alert does not say which states were targeted, though Yahoo reports that it likely refers to attacks in Arizona and Illinois.
The Oscars piracy problem is only getting worse
In 2016, Oscar screeners for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are still receiving DVDs as part of the voting process. This year, though, the piracy rates are at an all-time high as all eight best picture nominees have surfaced on file-sharing sites. Variety reports that in response to the problem, the Motion Picture Academy will finally give streaming a shot with a beta test this year. Last year, the Television Academy transitioned from DVDs to Chromecasts for Emmy voting. In that scenario, members-only web and mobile apps are used for streaming purposes. Of course, many of those TV episodes have already aired, so piracy isn't as much of a concern.
Botched database leaks records for 191 million voters
Did you vote in a US election sometime this century? If so, your personal info may be out in the open. Researcher Chris Vickery has discovered that a badly configured database exposed the voter registration info for 191 million Americans, including addresses, party affiliations and state voter IDs. It's not clear who originally managed the data, but Vickery and Databreaches.net are reaching out to everyone from online services to Congressional political action committees. The two are also contacting law enforcement in hopes of shutting down the leak, although it's not certain that officials are taking action.
Sanders campaign regains access to DNC voter info (updated)
Bernie Sanders' National Data Director has been fired amid accusations from the Democratic National Committee that he viewed confidential voter information collected by the Hillary Clinton campaign. The DNC maintains a master list of likely Democratic voters and rents this out to campaigns, which then add their own, confidential data. Firewalls are in place to protect campaigns from viewing rival information, though the Sanders staff says a glitch on Wednesday allowed it to access Clinton's data. Sanders Campaign Manager Jeff Weaver blamed the DNC's software vendor, NGP VAN, for allowing the breach, The Washington Post reports.
How one player helped to reform EVE Online's election system
Last year EVE Online players were given the news that the standard method of voting in members of the Council of Stellar Management was on its way out, with a new voting system put in place that allowed players to rank 14 of their favorite candidates. The story behind that change is a fascinating one, relayed to us by the PA Report. In short, CSM official Trebor Daehdoow (just read that backwards) realized that the old system was proving too divisive and allowed middling personalities to get elected due to the stronger ones splitting the vote. He used his influence on the council to push for a new "Australian-style multi-seat election" to allow players to nominate several of their favorites instead. The end result was an election in which the candidates cooperated rather than competed and players had more of a say. Daehdoow is happy with the legacy that he's leaving behind: "It had exactly the results I had hoped. It elected a bunch of diverse and really hard-working, knowledgeable people. The strongest people got elected. We got the best blogger in the game, Ripard Teg. He couldn't even get elected a couple years ago. This year, because people didn't have to tactical vote, he came in second."
Washington to become first US state to enroll voters through Facebook
Washington state has commissioned a Facebook app to provide another avenue for its residents to register to vote. Officials will soon post the software, developed by local company Microsoft, on the Secretary of State's page and allow users to like it in order to spread the word. Once it's ready, residents looking at using it will need to allow Facebook access to their personal info and provide a driver's license number or state ID number, which the social network will use to put them on the voter rolls -- but it would have no access to government databases, according to an election director. The state's current online system already saves up to $2 per voter registration, so on top of getting more out to vote, the new effort should keep even more dollars in the coffers.
Leaderboard: Mining vs. woodcutting
Oh, don't you scoff at today's topic. I can hear you, harrumphing with seeming impatience at what you consider to be activities beneath your stature. Perhaps the idea of putting in an honest day's hard work in an MMO is abhorrent to you -- after all, that's why you have servants, right? But there are those of us who know the value of soil, stone, and wood. So today we turn our gaze away from manslaughter and onto gathering natural resources. In most MMOs, two harvesting professions come almost standard with any title: mining and woodcutting (or, if you're feeling Monty Pythonish, lumberjacking). Which is more noble and more worthwhile to pursue? Mining has the appeal of precious metals and the near-universal utility of these resources in a wide range of crafting recipes, but one must not underestimate how essential wood is. After all, can you imagine swords without hilts, ships without hulls, or campfires that had to resort to burning dung every night in lieu of a better fuel source? Inconceivable! Get your hands dirty today and vote on the better career path for the burly outdoorsman or woman!
Leaderboard: Mechanized vs. monster mounts
Unless you're stuck in the invisible wall, no jumping, running-with-your-hands-flopping-about hell of Guild Wars, chances are you've gotten the opportunity to pick up a mount or two in an MMO. It's one of the ways that MMOs are so superior to the real world: There are no driver tests, no insurance policies, no (usually) gas. You just plop down some money and the vendor looks the other way while you go off-roading in a major metropolitan area. But it wouldn't be a Leaderboard if we didn't force you to choose between your '67 Mustang and your pet Tauntaun, and so it shall be. In the world of mounts, there are two categories: the mechanized and the monsters. Vehicle mounts may be more rare due to fantasy's dominance over the genre, but they're still there and quite popular for the set that doesn't appreciate staring at horse doody all the live-long day. Then again, the fantastic creatures that have served as animal mounts are unceasing in variety as they are in style. So what shall it be? Will you plug Old Yeller and go with your motorcycle, or will you mothball your favorite dune buggy in favor of Seabiscuit? Vote after the jump!
Leaderboard: Free-form space combat vs. on-the-rails shooter
If mankind's exploration into outer space has taught us anything at this point, it's that sooner or later we're going to need to strap big guns on our bubbles of life support and blast each other out of the cosmos. It's already a prevailing theme among MMOs, with titles like EVE Online, Star Trek Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Black Prophecy, and Battlestar Galactica Online allowing us to jump forward a few hundred years of technological growth so we can have some space shootin' fun. As of late there seems to be two camps developing regarding MMO space shooters. With the advent of SWTOR, some are warming up to the cinematic on-the-rails style of its space combat game. Tunnel shooters allow for a more scripted -- and potentially more exciting -- experience, and this type of combat has a long history in single-player games dating back to Starfox and before. Of course, the other camp just loathes rail shooters, much preferring the ability to fly anywhere one wants and engage in combat on one's own terms. The freedom of this style of space combat appeals to the inner individualist who doesn't want to conform to what everyone else is doing. In which camp have you struck your tent? Are you for free-form space combat or on-the-rails shooters? Let your vote be heard after the jump!
Ron Paul's World of Warcraft rally
On New Year's day supporters of Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul gathered on the Whisperwind (US) realm in World of Warcraft to march across Azeroth and show their support for their candidate of choice. The rally started outside Ironforge with approximately 240 players (with 400 members in their RP Revolution guild) and traveled to Stormwind, Westfall, Booty Bay, Ratchet, and finally Orgrimmar. And if you didn't make it, you can still experience the rally vicariously via our image gallery below (and if you did make it, feel free to send screenshots to us at aroundazeroth@wow.com!) or video above!To the best of our knowledge, this was the first political rally to be held in World of Warcraft -- and looking at their numbers it seems to have been a successful and upbeat gathering (or at least it was upbeat for the participants). Will this event help Ron Paul's chances in the election? It's hard to say until the votes are cast, but the uniqueness of the event is causing it to get a lot of media coverage. (And no press is bad press, so long as they spell your name properly, right?) Read on for impressions of the event.%Gallery-12524%
