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Re: [OM] OT - Hacking Microwaves

Subject: Re: [OM] OT - Hacking Microwaves
From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2017 16:53:07 -0700
On 3/22/2017 3:03 PM, Ken Norton wrote:
. . . Are
you REALLY sure that there isn't a "Zero Day" that has been installed
on it that will cause the brakes to fail and the accelerator to go
full throttle AND the air bags to not deploy and the seatbelt
tensioner to loosen? Oh, and the power steering assist to go berzerk
and start steering you towards oncoming traffic at the same time?

This ISN'T science fiction. Every bit of this has been demonstrated.

Last time I was aware of this issue, the cant was that cars don't have a central computer, but are controlled by endless subsystems, which cannot be centrally controlled. For example, If I use the brakes, the anti-lock is microprocessor controlled. If it fails, the basic hydraulic system still works, including the power boost. If the power boost, which is probably still mechanical, fails, I have to be able to push a lot harder on the pedal, but the brakes still work.

Cruise/throttle controls too have always had a mechanical and failure safety design. Those I've worked on use engine vacuum for activation of the mechanical throttle. Use the brake pedal, and that vacuum connection is mechanically broken. If any part of that control mechanism fails, the vacuum is lost. So, there is a microprocessor module that decides what to do with the throttle, but it does so only through a purely mechanical fail safe.

So all the TV and movie take control scenarios were fiction.

I've wondered if this might, probably, would not be the case with driverless cars. Is it the case now for some/all newer cars?

Doesn't make much sense, as it would make them considerably less safe, even aside from hacking. Also, a lot of re-engineering would be expensive and unreliable. Long developed and honed systems, like power brake boosters, are amazingly reliable, in good part because of the developments of decades.

Remote Control Moose

--
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
--
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