Procedural security analysis of electronic voting

Abstract

Security is among the most important constraints in the implementation of electronic voting because, to date, commercially available technology does not provide a completely secure e-transaction environment. In this paper, we explore the issue of security of e-voting procedures, given the established limitations of technology. We examine security in the context of the increased complexity of multiple-channel voting, provided by a multiplicity of agents involved in the administration of eelections. As previously suggested, security in e-voting has two aspects, the technical and the procedural one. In the course of interviews and observations conducted during the 2003 UK local government legally binding e-voting pilots we have identified several procedural security gaps and related procedural security measures. After defining the norms of procedural security in evoting, we adopt an existing framework of e-voting security objectives and use it as an analytical tool to indicate the importance of the procedural aspect of security. In concluding we extend the use of procedural security measures to the need for transparency in electronic voting and the development of trust and public confidence towards the newly introduced voting practices.

Procedural security analysis: A methodological approach

“…Thus, this work build upon the motivations for procedural security discussed in Xenakis and Macintosh (2004) and Xenakis and Macintosh (2005). Additionally, we believe that the outputs of the analyses could also be used to familiarize actors (e.g., election officials or polling officers) with the possible procedural threats and attacks that could happen during an election; thus, it complements works like Volkamer and McGaley (2007) and Volkamer (2009).…”

Understanding the Development Trends of Electronic Voting Systems

“…In this work, the authors used BPR to evaluate the introduction of an e-voting system in UK. They evaluated the underlying procedures with respect to possible risks through procedural security analysis [37], [38], also by highlighting (some of) the security implications of the administrative workflow (like [15]) in e-voting. However, their approach lack a machinery to systematically model and analysis the procedural alternatives nor provide precise notations for the redesigning activities.…”

Experiments and data analysis of electronic voting system

“…For instance, [21], [22] discuss risks and difficulties related to the introduction of e-voting, [23], [24] suggest possible improvements to existing procedures, and [25], [26], [27] introduce techniques to formally analyze what security breaches may be derived by executing the procedures in the wrong way.…”