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by epochwolf 3980 days ago
There's plenty of safe ways to accomplish this kind of demonstration. The fact they choose to do so in a way that endangered the public is in fact criminal.

Being a security researcher or journalist doesn't give you a license to put the public in physical danger.
2 comments
shoeboxam 3980 days ago
In addition, being a security researcher doesn't give you a license to put the public in any form of danger! That's why we have private disclosures.
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geofft 3980 days ago
The researchers did disclose it privately. As always, the believable pressure of public disclosure makes the process work.

https://twitter.com/0xcharlie/status/623492229714313216

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astrodust 3980 days ago
I'm sure the police are even more ill-equipped to understand the ramifications of this demonstration and will over-react and start jailing anyone with a laptop and suspicious intent.

I can't wait for the pathetic outrage when "racial profiling" now means harassing white kids with laptops that fit the profile of hacker.

This is a matter for a company like Google to take on politically, not some beat cop in St. Louis of all places.

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mattdotc 3980 days ago
This has nothing to do with the type of test they ran and everything to do with where and how they ran it.
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astrodust 3980 days ago
I totally agree that there's a problem here, but I strongly disagree with the method of action.

Why not engage the FBI? This is not an issue specific to St. Louis. Throwing some researchers in jail solves nothing. This is a way bigger deal than some local offense.

You need an agency with the ability to see the bigger picture.

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taejo 3980 days ago
How is deliberately disabling a vehicle on a highway the FBI's jurisdiction?
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astrodust 3980 days ago
How is it not given they could have disabled any vehicle with that vulnerability?

This basically suggests thousands of cars could be driven off the road and deliberately crashed right now. I'd say that's a threat that they need to deal with at the national level on an immediate basis.

Would you rather wait for a malicious actor like North Korea to get involved before the FBI makes a move?

What I'm trying to say is I'd rather the FBI gets involved and works with these researchers to develop an expedient fix for this problem than some beat cop in St. Louis to bust them and throw them in jail where they help nobody and the threat remains extremely grave.

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