Security & Control Issues News about Computer Crimes (Stealing votes the cyber way)

A 22 year old from california state university hope that he can win an election of student council president by stealing votes the cyber way. Matthew Weaver used small electronic devices called keyloggers to steal the passwords and identities of nearly 750 fellow students. Then he cast votes for himself—and some of his friends on the ballot—using the stolen names. He was caught during the final hour of the election in March 2012, when network administrators noticed unusual voting activity associated with a single computer on campus. A Cal State police officer sent to investigate found Weaver working at that machine. He had cast more than 600 votes for himself using the stolen identities.Weaver has a restitution hearing set for August 12, at which time the judge will hear evidence regarding the losses incurred by his victims. While the court has yet to determine those losses, Weaver and his friends on the ballot would have collected $36,000 in stipends and controlled a student budget of $300,000 if his vote-rigging plan had succeeded.

Source: www.fbi.gov