After reading a couple of somewhat negative comments that betrayed a lack of fundamental understanding, I wanted to offer some small clarification on Mike's video. Specifically, I want to address the concern that this just boils down to some anonymous guy's opinion. Nothing could be further from the truth. What Mike claims to have is 100% objective proof that is independent of any particular opinion or analysis. I will briefly try to explain.
There are a couple relevant technologies here that I would like to break down a little bit. I want to try to break this down for laypeople in a bit less technical wording. The first is networking communications between computers.
When data is transmitted across a network, like on the Internet, that data is broken up into what are called 'packets'. For now, let's just think of these as post cards like you would fill out and place in the mail. So if you want to send the Holy Bible to a friend, one (inefficient) way of doing so would be to copy the bible down onto post cards. Fit as much as you can on a post card, then mail that post card to the recipient. This would be very time-consuming, and the post cards might arrive out of order. Some might also be lost in the mail, so you might include a number on each card to identify the order. Then, if by the end there are missing numbers, you might re-write those cards and send the new copies to your recipient. Again, these post cards are analogous to network 'packets' as described in Mike's video.
But what if someone intercepts your mail and alters your post cards? Then your friend might have a copy of the Bible that has been altered, even to the point of conveying a different or opposite message at any or all points. This is a real problem, and it is also a problem for network packets. However, there is a long-established solution. Without that solution, secure online transactions from purchases to banking would all be impossible. So we all already know that technology exists to address this problem, but most of us do not understand it very well.
Sadly, it is quite a bit harder to explain in lay terms how the technology works to guarantee our 'post cards'/packets aren't altered as they are transmitted through the network, but I am going to try. The basic technology involves advanced mathematical encryption of the same sort your online bank would use. This mathematical solution involves a private key and a public key. In our analogy, both you, the sender, and your recipient would have both private and public keys. The private key would be kept secret, but the public key can be shared. These keys can be used to encrypt data such that only the intended recipient can read it. Even more importantly here, these keys can also be used to create a digital signature. This signature incorporates every detail of the network packets or your post cards in a cryptographic algorithm such that it can be proven with mathematical certainty whether or not the contents of the packet or post card has been altered in any way. This is still quite complicated, so let me give a simple example:
Let's say one of your post cards says, "#1346: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV)". Using a cryptographic signature, your recipient could verify that the message contents has not been altered with such precision that, if even the received message left out, altered, or added A SINGLE CHARACTER, the digital signature WOULD NOT MATCH and would thus prove with MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY that the message had not been accurately transmitted. In the case of a computer network, that packet would be discarded and a new attempt would be made to send the correct packet with the correct contents.
So, putting this all together, it is as if the voting machines communicated via post cards in the mail to each other. Each post card is time and date stamped, marked for its proper order in the transmission, and every detail is digitally signed so that it can be proven with MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY whether or not the data was altered between the sender and receiver. Mike claims to have EVERY SINGLE POST CARD FOR THE ENTIRE ELECTION, COMPLETE WITH DIGITAL SIGNATURE! Furthermore, Mike has claimed elsewhere that proper, legal chain of custody was maintained with this data from the time of collection to the present. If both of these claims are true, that can be easily proven, confirmed, and verified. And it means that ANYONE who has the proper training/understanding to check the data will have no choice but to come to the exact same conclusion that his anonymous expert came to. The information IS NOT DEPENDENT ON AN EXPERT TESTIMONY! If this is not true, then digital commerce and online banking would be an impossibility.
So, one last time, let's try to go over a complete analogy. Let's say computers did not exist but mathematical cryptography for encryption and signing is possible. Let's say that all machines in the election were replaced with humans who communicated all election information via post cards which used cryptographic signing to ensure that all data maintained its accuracy. This would include communications like, "Take the votes we tallied since our last post card and add them to the running total for our state. Then add that to the running total for the nation." Some of these post cards might be from foreign actors saying things like, "Biden is falling too far behind in Michigan! Take 32,213 votes from Trump and re-assign those to Biden." Every post card is numbered so you can piece together the original number. Every post card has a data and time stamp, as well. And every post card is cryptographically signed in a way that allows the recipient to confirm whether or not the original message made it without being altered. You can think of this as a mathematical formula each person has. Each also has two very long strings of data corresponding to a private and public key. So when Person A wants to send an update to Person B, he first writes the message, then runs the message through a mathematical function/algorithm along with his secret key and his recipient's public key. The function/algorithm spits out exactly what he then writes on the final post card and sends to the recipient. Furthermore, each new post card includes a cryptographic hash pointing to the previous post card sent. This way, each new post card can be verifiably linked to the previous post card. And Mike has ALL of these post cards!
One final remark about the cryptographic signatures: these are sort of like the "Royal Seal" a king might have used in times past. Royal edicts would have a hot wax seal that the king would press his signet ring into on the assumption that no one can break the seal and put it back without the king's own ring which remains in his possession. Cryptographic signing is MUCH more secure than this!
And, finally, here are a few Wikipedia references to relevant technology discussed above for those who want to dive more deeply into the technical aspects:
After reading a couple of somewhat negative comments that betrayed a lack of fundamental understanding, I wanted to offer some small clarification on Mike's video. Specifically, I want to address the concern that this just boils down to some anonymous guy's opinion. Nothing could be further from the truth. What Mike claims to have is 100% objective proof that is independent of any particular opinion or analysis. I will briefly try to explain.
There are a couple relevant technologies here that I would like to break down a little bit. I want to try to break this down for laypeople in a bit less technical wording. The first is networking communications between computers.
When data is transmitted across a network, like on the Internet, that data is broken up into what are called 'packets'. For now, let's just think of these as post cards like you would fill out and place in the mail. So if you want to send the Holy Bible to a friend, one (inefficient) way of doing so would be to copy the bible down onto post cards. Fit as much as you can on a post card, then mail that post card to the recipient. This would be very time-consuming, and the post cards might arrive out of order. Some might also be lost in the mail, so you might include a number on each card to identify the order. Then, if by the end there are missing numbers, you might re-write those cards and send the new copies to your recipient. Again, these post cards are analogous to network 'packets' as described in Mike's video.
But what if someone intercepts your mail and alters your post cards? Then your friend might have a copy of the Bible that has been altered, even to the point of conveying a different or opposite message at any or all points. This is a real problem, and it is also a problem for network packets. However, there is a long-established solution. Without that solution, secure online transactions from purchases to banking would all be impossible. So we all already know that technology exists to address this problem, but most of us do not understand it very well.
Sadly, it is quite a bit harder to explain in lay terms how the technology works to guarantee our 'post cards'/packets aren't altered as they are transmitted through the network, but I am going to try. The basic technology involves advanced mathematical encryption of the same sort your online bank would use. This mathematical solution involves a private key and a public key. In our analogy, both you, the sender, and your recipient would have both private and public keys. The private key would be kept secret, but the public key can be shared. These keys can be used to encrypt data such that only the intended recipient can read it. Even more importantly here, these keys can also be used to create a digital signature. This signature incorporates every detail of the network packets or your post cards in a cryptographic algorithm such that it can be proven with mathematical certainty whether or not the contents of the packet or post card has been altered in any way. This is still quite complicated, so let me give a simple example:
Let's say one of your post cards says, "#1346: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV)". Using a cryptographic signature, your recipient could verify that the message contents has not been altered with such precision that, if even the received message left out, altered, or added A SINGLE CHARACTER, the digital signature WOULD NOT MATCH and would thus prove with MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY that the message had not been accurately transmitted. In the case of a computer network, that packet would be discarded and a new attempt would be made to send the correct packet with the correct contents.
So, putting this all together, it is as if the voting machines communicated via post cards in the mail to each other. Each post card is time and date stamped, marked for its proper order in the transmission, and every detail is digitally signed so that it can be proven with MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY whether or not the data was altered between the sender and receiver. Mike claims to have EVERY SINGLE POST CARD FOR THE ENTIRE ELECTION, COMPLETE WITH DIGITAL SIGNATURE! Furthermore, Mike has claimed elsewhere that proper, legal chain of custody was maintained with this data from the time of collection to the present. If both of these claims are true, that can be easily proven, confirmed, and verified. And it means that ANYONE who has the proper training/understanding to check the data will have no choice but to come to the exact same conclusion that his anonymous expert came to. The information IS NOT DEPENDENT ON AN EXPERT TESTIMONY! If this is not true, then digital commerce and online banking would be an impossibility.
So, one last time, let's try to go over a complete analogy. Let's say computers did not exist but mathematical cryptography for encryption and signing is possible. Let's say that all machines in the election were replaced with humans who communicated all election information via post cards which used cryptographic signing to ensure that all data maintained its accuracy. This would include communications like, "Take the votes we tallied since our last post card and add them to the running total for our state. Then add that to the running total for the nation." Some of these post cards might be from foreign actors saying things like, "Biden is falling too far behind in Michigan! Take 32,213 votes from Trump and re-assign those to Biden." Every post card is numbered so you can piece together the original number. Every post card has a data and time stamp, as well. And every post card is cryptographically signed in a way that allows the recipient to confirm whether or not the original message made it without being altered. You can think of this as a mathematical formula each person has. Each also has two very long strings of data corresponding to a private and public key. So when Person A wants to send an update to Person B, he first writes the message, then runs the message through a mathematical function/algorithm along with his secret key and his recipient's public key. The function/algorithm spits out exactly what he then writes on the final post card and sends to the recipient. Furthermore, each new post card includes a cryptographic hash pointing to the previous post card sent. This way, each new post card can be verifiably linked to the previous post card. And Mike has ALL of these post cards!
One final remark about the cryptographic signatures: these are sort of like the "Royal Seal" a king might have used in times past. Royal edicts would have a hot wax seal that the king would press his signet ring into on the assumption that no one can break the seal and put it back without the king's own ring which remains in his possession. Cryptographic signing is MUCH more secure than this!
And, finally, here are a few Wikipedia references to relevant technology discussed above for those who want to dive more deeply into the technical aspects:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_signature https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_protocol_suite https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-key_cryptography