Nowadays, you can’t really find any technology, whether it’s an appliance or a simple flashlight, that’s not “connected” or “wired” for the so-called “convenience’s” sake. However, one should heed the warning that when we say “connected”, that doesn’t necessary constitute you alone.
Here are some reasons why you should be concerned about tech security:
- You Could be Carjacked While You’re Driving Your Car
We’re nearing an age where every single vehicle, from supercars to humble tractors, is connected to the Internet for no apparent reason apart from: being able to check your vehicle’s status online (something that you should do), being able to surf the net while driving (something you shouldn’t do), and being able to let the car drive itself (something you shouldn’t entrust to whatever cyber-entity’s controlling that steering wheel). But what if, through some bug in the software of your vehicle, your jeep suddenly swivels out of control a la Tokyo Drift at 270km/h, and you die in a blazing fire inside your beloved box of death?
“Cut off brakes and steering, accelerate to 330m/h, turn on NOS near Floodway bridge barrier… DONE.” yahoo.com/tech
To fill you in on e-carjacking, it seems that some people who own certain types of vehicles can have their cars and jeeps hijacked remotely through modified software updates, Bluetooth dongles or even by just being connected to the Internet. Now, we have to note that these people aren’t your run-of-the-mill hackers, these are teams of like-minded individuals trying to get into the virtual gears that make your vehicle tick. The issue of e-carjacking is being taken seriously that, while the methods are still questionable, vehicle manufacturers are now recalling the affected vehicles for fear of a bad rep when an e-carjacking case finally shows up. Because if someone halfway across the globe wants to play RC Corvette with you inside it, then you’re pretty much screwed.
2. Soon, Drones Will Be Everywhere
Leave it to the land of the free if you want to talk about the country who revolutionized the usage of drones as war machines. However, it’s not always smooth sailing, or smooth bombing in the military sense. Even the United States, the very country with the most prevalent military drone usage, is having problems on how drone innovation pushes the limits of what drones can and can’t do.
“My Lil’ Sasha can drop five kilograms worth of bull crap on my neighbour’s lawn at the push of a button.” nj.com
Enter the civilian drone. These drones are, like what their namesake tells us, non-military. Most of them are designed for a variety of uses, from recreational racing (yes, drone racing is a thing now), traffic monitoring, to even parcel delivery. Soon drones will be everywhere, doing most of the things your common delivery boy get paid to do. But one can’t help but think of how these things can be used for other, more malicious purposes, such as wireless data hijacking or even the possibility of using it as a missile to attack planes (by way of being a flying hazard similar to bird strikes). Which is why recently, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) set up a task force that will require drone owners to register their machines in order to track drones and their owners. Because really, who wants five kilograms worth of bull crap in front of their lawn and nobody to cry foul at?
3. 3D Printing is a Surefire Way to Make Deadly Stuff
Ah, 3D printing. People say that this avant-garde innovation in printing allows us to make different types of stuff that was only possible before if you live in a steel mill. Nowadays you can 3D print anything, from simple sculptures to cars and even WHAT THE HELL IS THAT IS THAT A FREAKING RAILGUN?!
It’s like Guitar Hero, only your audience gets vaporized afterwards. yahoo.com/tech
Yes, folks, someone who isn’t in the military or a spacefaring organization managed to create a railgun using 3D printed parts, and it can fire metal, graphite, and even plasma projectiles at five hundred freaking sixty miles per hour. Now, based on the guy’s video demonstration of the gun, most of the projectiles get vaporized before it reaches a certain target, which is something typical with railguns and their high energy requirements when firing. All this, using 3D printer tech? Who knows? It’s only a matter of time before we can 3D print nukes and we’re all totally going to burn in a mushroom cloud of hell for doing it.
