Scary Stuff

4 things you didn’t know could be hacked:

Rifles
The Austin, Texas-based company TrackingPoint makes auto-aiming rifles that increase a shooter’s accuracy and have Wi-Fi connectivity. Within the 100- to 150-feet range of the Wi-Fi and using a mobile phone, a hacker can compromise the weapon and change the target of the shooter, says Runa Sandvik, one of the researchers who presented at the annual hacker gathering Def Con last week.

In a demonstration for Wired, Sandvik and a research partner finagled with a rifle’s software to shift aim 2.5 feet to the left, hitting a different target.

The company posted a notice on its website in response to the Wired article, saying that it is working with the researchers and will offer a software update if one is warranted. Until then, the note says, you can continue using the Wi-Fi intended for downloading photos, among other functionality, “if you are confident no hackers are within 100 feet.”

Sandvik says the Wi-Fi must be turned on to hack into the rifle and manipulate the target, and attackers cannot force the rifle to fire remotely, though they could unlock the trigger. Plus, she added, researchers have in the past found ways to boost Wi-Fi signals from other devices and stretch connectivity to longer distances.

“A successful attacker could cause the rifle to misbehave on every single shot without the shooter knowing how or why,” Sandvik told MarketWatch. “The short version here is that you cannot underestimate a motivated attacker.”

Is there such a thing as a responsible hacker? I'm sure that when the Second Amendment was written that all of this was taken into account.

Guns don't kill people, software does.