The International Association for Cryptological Research (IACR) has held elections to elect its president, using the encrypted online voting system Helios. But they had to cancel them because someone lost the keys to start the countand it is impossible to access the votes. Quite a funny ridiculous thing, but at least it shows that the system works…
The IACR is one of the most important non-profit cryptographic associations. It is dedicated to promoting encryptionthat is, encrypt the data so that no one can read it. As they say, cryptology is everywhere, you are using it now while reading this news.
Leading by example, to elect your president use an encrypted online voting system, called Helios. This technology not only encrypts the votes so that no one knows who cast them, it also allows the voter to know if their vote has been counted. Unfortunately, something went wrong.
If you encrypt, don’t lose the key
As explained in the association’s statement, a key is required to count the votes. They divided it into three parts and gave them to three members of the committee.. This prevents vote manipulation.
Unfortunately, one of these members, Moti Yung, has lost his part of the keyso the votes cannot be counted:
“Unfortunately, one of the three trustees has irretrievably lost his private key, an honest but unfortunate human error, and is therefore unable to calculate his share of the decryption,” explains, I guess with tomato-red cheeks, the IACR spokesperson.
“As a result, Helios is unable to complete the decryption process and it is technically impossible for us to obtain or verify the final result of these elections.”
Moti Yung, the forgetful member of the committee, has resigned, and they have not thought twice: he already has a replacement, Michel Abdalla.
It’s not the end of the world, they’ll just have to vote again. Next time they will only split the key in two, although that means increasing the possibility of fraud…
Beyond the funny anecdote, an important lesson must be learned: keep your passwords in a safe place, and don’t lose them…