Fanshawe's elections are approaching quickly this year, perhaps with more concern and anxiety than ever after the news that the student council elections at the University of Western Ontario were hacked.

Keith Horwood, a Western alumni, identified himself as the 'Western Hacker' through a YouTube video just days after the hacking occurred on February 15. According to his statement, he found a security hole on the voting website.

Horwood changed the website to say things such as "Vote for Justin Bieber for World Peace." He admitted that there was no harm intended and he did not skew the election results. Despite this, the 10,200-plus votes that were cast had to be thrown out due to the security breach.

In Horwood's YouTube confession he apologized for the harm and inconvenience he put students and candidates through. He admitted several times that he "wasn't even thinking" and he "didn't realize the magnitude" of the changes he made.

Although the hacking only lasted 10 minutes before action was taken to stop it, the results were deemed invalid and a re-election took place on February 29.

While being hacked is always a possibility, Allen Gaynor, the Fanshawe Student Union Web Facilitator said, "I believe this will be the 10th or 11th election we have done online here at Fanshawe, and we have never run into this issue. But I always believe in being proactive, and I alter the system throughout the year to ensure greater security."

Gaynor said he holds no sympathy for the mistakes made by Horwood. "He caused harm to the current Student Council and those who are running, plus those who worked on the website. There is also going to be a financial loss as a result of this. He's an adult, he should know better."

Shortly after he hacked the database, Horwood e-mailed the Gazette, Western's student newspaper, to tell them what had happened. "I kind of just thought it would blow over after that," said Horwood.

However, that was not the case. Since Horwood committed a criminal offence, London Police intend to charge him. The investigation is ongoing and his case may go to trial.

However, while students and candidates at Fanshawe may be nervous as the elections approach, Gaynor remained confident. The Fanshawe Student Union's online ballot was custom-built and has never had a problem, "but work is always being done on it to stay ahead of the curve, and in the event that we ever were the victim of a hacker, measures have been added to ensure the integrity of the results," said Gaynor. "Students should also be aware that the Fanshawe Student Union is not storing any of their information when they vote."

Fanshawe students have from March 12 at 9 a.m. until March 15 at 2 p.m. to cast their ballots in the FSU election.