Hacker News Reader

Comment by talmand | Hacker News Reader

>> Count and record our money

I think recent history has shown this hasn't worked out quite that well in many cases, and that in other cases was easily manipulated for purposes of fraud. There are entire sections of various law enforcement agencies that focus on this very topic.

>> Operate and monitor medical equipment

What would be the benefit of manipulating this?

>> Monitor and control planes, trains, ships, and cars

What would be the benefit of manipulating this?

I would second guess anything that uses a computer to keep a record of something that someone would have a direct benefit if manipulated. It's not a matter of whether it works or not, it's a matter of how easy is it to manipulate for a particular goal.

View on HN

> What would be the benefit of manipulating this?

Killing people. Imagine a StuxNet type attack that targets medical equipment or an attack that can drop planes from the sky (https://www.wired.com/2015/05/feds-say-banned-researcher-com...)

> I would second guess anything that uses a computer to keep a record of something that someone would have a direct benefit if manipulated

Then you better move to the woods. Basic economic principals (scarcity) mean that every resource has value to an interested party.

>> Killing people.

I can only see the benefit of a targeted assassination for a very specific subset of a subset of a subset of people, not large scale killing of people. Warfare maybe? For fun? Not as obvious as fraud for monetary gain, there is a scale issue to consider.

I worry more over bugs that kill people on the operating table or in the air as opposed to someone manipulating the equipment for some unknown benefit.

>> Then you better move to the woods.

I think you're exaggerating just a bit.

> Warfare maybe? For fun? Not as obvious as fraud for monetary gain

Wars are extremely profitable for some.

> I think you're exaggerating just a bit.

I think you are being myopic. We trust computers with thousands of important tasks. If we can't trust them for voting, we really have to reconsider their usefulness.

>> Wars are extremely profitable for some.

That is an excellent point.

But, reading back over the posts I see that I introduced the concept of warfare even though the original points I questioned did not. So, back to my first questions; who benefits from manipulating medical and aircraft equipment on a large enough scale to be compared to potential financial fraud?

Wait, targeted assassination that starts a war... That's been done before, but unlikely.

>> If we can't trust them for voting, we really have to reconsider their usefulness.

It's not that I don't trust the computers, it's that I don't trust people.

> I introduced the concept of warfare

I assumed "killing people" was broad enough to include obvious cases such as war :)

> So, back to my first questions; who benefits from manipulating medical and aircraft equipment on a large enough scale to be compared to potential financial fraud

Competing corporations via corporate espionage. A targeted hack against Siemens infusion pumps would force hospitals to consider alternatives.

> It's not that I don't trust the computers, it's that I don't trust people.

Every system in the world has been created by people with their own biases and faults. If we are really going down that path, then you must seriously consider going off the grid.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com