From: kelly@netcom.com (Kelly Goen)
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 93 17:32:35 PST
To: northrop@netcom.com (Scott Northrop)
Subject: Cheap Cruise Missles(Was Re: GPS and security
In-Reply-To: <199312282341.PAA25474@mail.netcom.com>
Message-ID: <199312290132.RAA21274@mail.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


> 
> If the military is worried about delivery systems' accuracy, Phil Karn
> already mentioned kamikazies, but if you don't want to make suicide part of


No suicide pact necessary.... the flight control deck of many modern
airliners is Totally fly by wire... there are different communications
protocols and buses... all controlled by eprom driven micros ...
as well as the loaded flight plans... while NOT trivial is is completelyt
within the realm of reason to be able to freely subvert say the
inputs coming from the navigational subsystems to divert said craft as
well as locking off external inputs(e.g. pilots). A
757 or Airbus  coming in at 300-600 knots with a 1/4 to 1/2 fuel load
makes a very respectable cruise missle... the passengers merely being
"collateral damage". To a more limited degree replacement and subversion
of the eproms in a modern days car's Engine control module has
already been done... witness rechipping for performance...
the same can be done for more malicious actions...
As far as the 757 flight control deck software issue... its only a matter of
time... ANY computer controlled conveyance can be subverted...
elevators, robot factories etc... ALL of the control and telemetery
protocols are currently unprotected...

The other trend is the new environmental control systems for HVAC, security
etc used in modern skyscrapers... cracking and subverting one of these
could be just as disruptive as a cruise missle while not taking lives...

     Happy New Years
     kelly...
BTW more and more modern cities are installing control systems tied into
relatively unprotected display systems(i.e. little or no security and
no encryption) the utilities are just as guilty I wonder how long
it will be before the terrorists get a clue...

> the package, you could always just have someone drop a radio transmitter on
> your target sometime in advance, possibly a day or two.  The missile can
> then home in on the signal.  (If you need to get it inside a high-security
> area, you could always encase it in foam and drop it from a model airplane
> or launch it in a model rocket.)  Or you could just leave a suitcase with a
> timed bomb at your target location; plutonium bombs can be very small.
> 
> It boggles my mind that the military mind prevents the use of tools that
> are just too complicated for the "bad guys" to bother with.  Does CBS have
> an email address yet?  :)
> 
> --
> Scott Northrop               <northrop@netcom.com>              (206)784-2083
> ObVirus:   The demand for obedience is inherently evil.
> ObVirus2:  As a juror in a Trial by Jury, you have the right, power and duty
>            to acquit the defendant if you judge the law itself to be unjust.
> 
>