[Year 12 IT Apps] Data security

Thu Apr 16 17:44:36 AEST 2015

Although after having invented the three laws of roborics, Asimov then wrote many short stories looking into ways they could be (deliberately or accidentally) circumvented. As the saying goes, if you create a fool-proof system only a fool would use it
Despite the apparent infallibility of computers and computer programming, it is when systems fail or are stressed that their true colours appear. As Morrison and Little observed way back in the 80's, when digital systems placed in mission-critical situations fail, they tend not to fail gracefully, so give me a well trained, adaptable human any time!

Regards
Robert T-A
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Roland Gesthuizen 
  To: Year 12 IT Applications Teachers' Mailing List 
  Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2015 3:25 PM
  Subject: Re: [Year 12 IT Apps] Data security

  It is an interesting risk problem .. do we fear the Hacker who hijacked a plane or the rogue pilot? 

  I have more faith in planes than pilots .. they clearly know when the ground or buildings are in proximity. It annoys the hell of out me that reversing systems allow users to hit something when clearly, all the car needs is to gently tap the brake. What stops a plan giving a gentle tap. Many cars now take over your vehicle braking with a dedicated system when you do something stupid and lock up the brakes. Nobody is suggesting that we should not have this feature in case a car is hijacked, rather that at a primitive programming level the car acts to protect itself and your life. It’s a tap on the steering wheel that saves lives.

  I have faith that if we can program in the laws of robotics (salute to Isaac Asimov http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics), the vehicle will not allow the people or itself come into harm from a malicious instruction. So if they get a command or software instruction that it knows will lead to certain destruction or death, it will trip over to a safety and alert status. 

  “So you want to fly the plan into a mountain, forget it chum, Im flying over it and alerting the authorities.”

  “So we are running low on fuel and the nearest airport I can land in is behind us? Forget it chum, I’m turning this plane around and alerting the authorities.”

  “So this software routine wants me to open the doors mid-flight? Forget it chum, I’m sounding an alert for pilot, authorities and aborting the command until you all say pretty-please."

  It isn’t as if a plane refuses to take off because it is lacking scented napkins (salute to Douglas Adams) rather that thy are programmed to do sensible and nice things because we managed to think through these options in advance.

  We could suggest Roboethics for a 2020 study design :-)

  —
  Roland GESTHUIZEN
  http://about.me/rgesthuizen

    On 16 Apr 2015, at 2:35 pm, Mark <mark at vceit.com> wrote:

    Ho hum. This may be my last news post for a while. 
    People don't seem interested in them, and I have so many other cats to kick.

    Hackers Could Commandeer New Planes Through Passenger Wi-Fi

    Boeing 787 Dreamliner jets, as well as Airbus A350 and A380 aircraft, have Wi-Fi passenger networks that use the same network as the avionics systems of the planes, raising the possibility that a hacker could hijack the navigation system or commandeer the plane through the in-plane network, according to the US Government Accountability Office, which released a report about the planes today...

    www.wired.com/2015/04/hackers-commandeer-new-planes-passenger-wi-fi/

    Or, like, whatever...

    -- 
    A nerd is someone whose life revolves around computers and technology for fun.
    A geek is someone whose life revolves around computers and technology for money.

    Mark Kelly

    mark AT vceit DOT com
    http://vceit.com

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