Wi- Fi suspended near EVMs after hacking complaint
◗ The complainant feared a possibility of tampering with the EVMs stored inside the strong room using Wi- Fi, district election officer Mahendra Patel said
Surat, Dec. 17: The Wi- Fi service at a college here was suspended after the Congress candidate from the Kamrej Assembly seat complained of possible hacking and tampering with the electronic voting machines ( EVMs), used in the recently held Gujarat Assembly polls, kept on its campus.
Following a complaint by Congress nominee Ashok Jariwala, the WiFi service was suspended on the campus of the Gandhi Engineering College, situated in the Athwa Lines locality here.
“We detected that a WiFi network was available near the strong room ( in the college), after which we asked the collector to take action,” Mr Jariwala said.
He said they had made a similar complaint two days back, after which the collector had ordered the suspension of the WiFi service on the campus.
“But we found it active again today. We cannot take a chance as there is a possibility of hacking and tampering with the EVMs,” said Mr Jariwala.
Following the complaint, Surat collector and district election officer Mahendra Patel ordered the college authorities to suspend the Wi- Fi service on their campus.
The complainant feared a possibility of tampering with the EVMs stored inside the strong room, using Wi- Fi, Patel said.
“The Wi- Fi service they are talking about is of the college and meant for students, and we understand that there is no possibility of EVM tampering using it. However, to dispel their doubt, we have ordered its suspension,” the collector said.
The EVMs from six Assembly constituencies are kept in the strong room of the college.