Secure Information Technology Center - Austria Workshop on the certification of e-voting systems Council of Europe Strasbourg, 26 November 2009 Certification of the e-voting software used at the Austrian Student Union elections 2009 Daniel Konrad

Strasbourg, 23 November 2009Slide 2 About A-SIT Public funded non-profit association (since 1999), Established as competence center for IT- security Members –Federal Ministry of Finance –OeNB (Austrian Central Bank) –Graz University of Technology

Strasbourg, 23 November 2009Slide 3 Activities Technical evaluations –Confirmation body (Article 3(4) of EU-directive on el. signatures) –Inspection body (ISO 17020) Advising the public sector on IT-security –e-government, e-health, … Observing existing and emerging technologies –Cryptography, SmartCards, e-ID, etc.

Strasbourg, 23 November 2009Slide 4 A-SIT & e-voting 2001: e-voting defined in laws –Austrian Student Union –Chamber of Commerce Laws define that a confirmation body (signature law) has to certify the compliance with security requirements  Technology observation  Participation in CoE‘s multidisciplinary ad hoc group  Participation in Austrian working group on legal, technical and international aspects (Federal Ministry of Interior)

Strasbourg, 23 November 2009Slide 5 Certification Requirements Law (2001): –Security level equal to qual. el. signatures, –Basic requirements (secrecy, identity verification, privacy, integrity, prevent overhasty casting of votes) Ordinance (issued Oct. 2008): –Client & voting-server software to be certified 60 days before the election –Certification based on CoE Rec2004(11) –Right of access to source code & certification reports for electoral commission & observers

Strasbourg, 23 November 2009Slide 6 The Main Players Federal Ministry of Science and Research –Responsible authority Scytl –Software (pnyx-austria) Federal Computing Centre –Operation, infrastructure INSO (research group for industrial software at Vienna University of Technology) –Security-concepts, testing, etc.

Strasbourg, 23 November 2009Slide 7 Certification Procedure Kick-off with main players in Dec –Definition of timetable and requirements: –existing evaluation reports –no formal CC evaluation & certification –provided documentation should follow CC catalog –CC-based risk analysis of CoE Rec2004(11)

Strasbourg, 23 November 2009Slide 8 Provided documentation (developer evidence) –Security Compliance Conformance between sec. functionalities & sec. objectives (based on CoE Rec) –Development: Threat Analysis Security Architecture Functional Specification Architectural Design –Guidance Documents Deployment Guide

Strasbourg, 23 November 2009Slide 9 Provided documentation (developer evidence) –Life-Cycle Support CMS documentation ISO certification –Testing Software development testing proofs –Vulnerability Analysis penetration testing –Source code –Access to Scytl‘s bugzilla-system Contact developers (Q&A) View test results

Strasbourg, 23 November 2009Slide 10 Confirmation („Bescheinigung“) issued and published on 27 March 2009 detailed evaluation report available for electoral commission & observers –at source-code review event (8 Mai 2009) one maintanance report (minor changes, issued 15 Mai 2009)

Strasbourg, 23 November 2009Slide 11 Constraints Configuration of keylengthes –equal to requirements for qual. signatures Client-PCs –free of malicious software –prevent residual information Voting Server Software –audited compiling & installation Electronic Ballot Box & Keys –handling in post-voting stage

Strasbourg, 23 November 2009Slide 12 Additional tasks Auditing of security relevant procedures (together with certified IT professional engineer) –compiling –deployment –key ceremonies –pre-mixing –mixing –secure data destruction

Strasbourg, 23 November 2009Slide 13 Statistics E-voting period: 18 May 2009 – 22 May 2009 Paper: 26 May 2009 – 28 May 2009 Eligible voters: Votes: „Eligible“ E-voters: ~ E-Votes: No security incidents or hacking attacks some „unfriendly“ activities –„availability-check“ tool –Persiflage e-voting site

Strasbourg, 23 November 2009Slide 14 Lessons learned CoE Rec2004(11) provided a good basis for our confirmation Traceability of installation, compiling, etc. raised confidence of electoral authorities A reuseable and broadly accepted certification of core functionalities would be very useful Some residual risks could not be directly adressed (unsecure client PCs) Public debate in Austria was much more fundamental than technical

Strasbourg, 23 November 2009Slide 15 Thank you for your attention… Daniel Konrad Secure Information Technology Center Austria Weyringergasse 35, A-1040 Wien,