[clug] October CLUG - Thursday Oct 22 - Lightning talks - short focused fun for all

[Bryan Kilgallin]

Dear Bob:

> Volkswagen are presently claiming that just a handful of
> software developers were responsible for the debacle VW are now in.

I have read that could not have been the case. That software changes 
must have been signed-off by senior people!

> How is it that this code has gone undetected for up to 8 years, even
> by our trusty government regulators?

The US regulator was not funded to test cars! I read that Aussie has the 
most permissive scheme in the developed world.

> How do we get these
> "additional" functionalities detected and assessed?

When I worked in academia, teaching was the go. And there wasn't serious 
dough applied to researching real stuff.

> (How do we know
> that the PMs car isn't carrying a manufacturer-installed bugging device,
> for example?).

That was the case with a US-made aeroplane for the Chinese chief!

> Are we ready for some of these safety-critical
> systems to be tinkered with by hobbyists (aka hackers)?

Which reminds me of the WikiLeaks saga. It's great if someone else does 
the work. But the ACT Greens wouldn't so much as donate $1 to the people 
who were doing that!

> Is there a line
> that we can draw between what is safe to tinker with and what isn't?

People are scared to test the powerful institutions!

-- 
www.netspeed.com.au/bryan/
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