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DARPA Wants Ideas On Weaponizing Off-the-Shelf Tech (ieee.org)
An anonymous reader writes: The good news is that some of today's most advanced technologies are cheap and easy to find, both online and on the shelves of major chain stores. That's also the bad news, according to DARPA. The defense agency is nervous that criminals and terrorists will turn off-the-shelf products into tools and devices to harm citizens or disrupt American military operations. On Friday, DARPA announced a new project called 'Improv' that invites technologists to propose designs for military applications or weaponry built exclusively from commercial software, open source code, and readily available materials. The program's goal is to demonstrate how easy it is to transform everyday technology into a system or device that threatens national security.
See also this story about transforming into weapons items commonly found in the purportedly secure area of U.S. airports.
for readily available materials which will be 'tracked' in the future. please submit your ideas so we can watch you, too.
How about mounting an automatic weapon in the back of a pickup truck?
love is just extroverted narcissism
As opposed to just buying a gun?
The average "criminal" is NOT going to re-write code or anything like that. S/He will use the same tried-and-true methods that have proven successful for so many years.
This is STUPID.
It's pretty easily possible for an amateur to put together their own cruise missle, encrypted communications that admit to no theoretical methods to break them if they're used correctly, spread spectrum radio that you can't tell is there, various sorts of jammers for GPS, phones, etc., various bombs and poisons.
Not that I really want to tell this to Congress.
Bruce Perens.
How about a brick? You can pick it up and throw it at someone's head.
...what can be done with just a few off-the-shelf elements. The entire contents of the periodic table must be confiscated from the American public. It's the only way we can be protected from the turr'ists among us!!
A weapon doesn't have to be lethal to humans.
Here's an example: install systemd on an adversary's Linux system. If the adversary's Linux system is anything like my Debian systems were when systemd was installed on them, there's a very good chance they won't boot properly. The adversary may not be physically harmed, but the adversary sure will be angry!
Here's another example: upgrade the adversary's Firefox installation. If the adversary's Firefox experience is anything like my Firefox experience, an upgrade is nearly a guaranteed way of getting a much worse experience. The adversary may not be physically harmed, but the adversary sure will be angry!
It's just a line. "Yeah, we're worried about terrorists and criminals using off-the-shelf stuff. We have no interest in it ourselves. Yeah, that's the ticket!"
Wars are extremely expensive - they have ruined many states - and I see this as an attempt to lower costs at the defense department.
Just my cynical 200 cents (inflation).
Beginner: * Break off a branch from a tree. This is called stick. Hit someone with it. Advanced: * Produce a straight staff from a tree. File down the point of one end, or attach a flint or metal pointy traingle to one end. This is called a spear. In close quarters you may stab someone with it in a jabbing motion. At a distance, you may throw it. Be warned, if you missed you just armed your opponent with a spear. Expert: * Produce a straight staff from a tree and fashion into a bow. Use the sniwes from an animal you slayed using your club or spear and fashion a string you can use on your bow. Produce minature spears that you can use to shoot from this bow. Bows make excellent weapons to be used at a distance before your opponent can get into throwing range of a spear or melee distance if they have a club. As you can see, Trees are very dangerous and can be used as weapons. We should cut them all down.
turn off-the-shelf products into tools and devices to harm citizens or disrupt American military operations.
You mean like the 8 - 10" chef knives one can find at any yard sale or flea market? Or do they mean the rolls of aluminum foil which can be cut into ribbons then sent via bottle rocket to land across power lines and short them out?
I'm presuming I should be expecting a knock on my door in the very near future.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
MacGyver, to be specific.
I suspect that one of these choices is incorrect. Correct.
the mythbusters need a job also get that macgyver to help.
I once worked with a guy who said that he couldn't go see "Snakes on a Plane" with me when it opened in theaters because he was afraid it was giving the terrorists ideas.
I think, in reaction, my eyes glazed over in a way reminiscent of the Blue Screen of Death.
Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
Any engineer worth their salt could disrupt a city for under $500;
- A hammer and nails can disable emergency response vehicles.
Self lighting charcoal and a road flare can set a house on fire.
Combine the two, and you can burn down a city.
- Most cities have a small number of major traffic arteries that could be shut down with a similar number of people armed with rocks.
- Drop a bag of flour on the freeway and call in a chemical spill.
And there are far, far more effective things I can think of that I'm not willing to post on a public forum.
Once you start to think about how vulnerable we are, you realize that terrorists must be extremely rare.
WOW, somebody must be upset at me. Second post in two days and BOTH were moderated as TROLL -1