Man of the Year, revisited?
If anyone had seen the movie (though a hollywood-hype blowout of a voting-software company with this same attitude) shows a good example of how ignorance and lack of humility against hacking can just outright destroy your credibility.
As a software developer on multi-platform, you have to admit that mistakes can be made. Code reviews, audits, testing - they all serve the purpose to make a secure and reliable system. Shooting down the results of a firm, whether the extreme or not, is simply counter-productive.
I'd personally feel for them (and not laugh out loud at them) if they had come back with a response something like this:
"We acknowledge that testing under the conditions reported, while a worst-case scenario and extreme, have shown that additional review and auditing could be performed. Tests prior to this external audit have proven a certain level of reliability and security, and we welcome the external input provided and are working with election experts to review which conditions could be repeated under voting circumstances. Any and all known holes will be closed."
Humility can go a long way into voter confidence. And I tell you what - without the confidence of the voters, which they are NOT earning with such a blanket statement, they will die on the vine (ie never reach the production release phase) like so many others...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
