Security

The electronic voting process has essential mechanisms to ensure its security: the digital signature and the digital summary.

A digital signature is a cryptographic technique used to ensure that content, in this case a digital file, can be verified mainly with regard to its integrity, i.e., it seeks to ensure that the computer program has not been modified intentionally or unintentionally lost its original characteristics due to failure to write or read. This means that if the digital signature is valid, the file has not been modified.

The digital signature is also used to ensure the authenticity of the program, i.e., to confirm that the program has an official origin and was generated by the Superior Electoral Court. In this case, only the person who digitally signed can have generated that digital signature.

The digital summary, also called cryptographic summary or hash, is a cryptographic technique that resembles a verification digit. Given a digital file, the digital summary of that file can be calculated with a public algorithm (mathematical method known to everyone). In the case of ballot box systems, the hash of all files is calculated and these summaries are published on the TSE portal.

The security of the electronic voting system is layered. Through security devices of different types and with different purposes, different barriers are created that, together, do not allow the system to be violated.

In summary, any attack on the system causes a domino effect and the electronic voting machine crashes, making it impossible to generate valid results.