David Bear, a spokesman for Diebold Election Systems Inc., in Allen, Texas, said the incident underscores the need for election officials to maintain a good chain of custody on their equipment.

Diebold security workers regularly monitor online auctions sites and other sources for election equipment that may be for sale improperly, he said. And while the hardware involved in this incident were specifically for use in DeKalb County, he said, it is "good to get them out of unauthorized hands."

Bear didn't know how much the Diebold security team paid or whether Diebold will be reimbursed for the purchases. "Our main concern was to get it all back in the hands of the county," Bear said. "I think it was one of those innocuous things. Someone should have checked to make sure nothing was in there" before the furniture was sold.

Jon Oltsik, a security analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group in Milford, Mass., said that IT security workers such as those in the DeKalb County elections office must always think ahead to prevent sensitive information and equipment from being used against them.

"This is risk management," Oltsik said. "You have to train your people. People are definitely the weakest link in security. Accidents are a huge part of the security world. But security people are paid to think through what might happen."