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Hacker Cracks Smart Gun Security To Shoot It Without Approval (cnn.com)
An anonymous reader shares a CNN report:Smart guns are supposed to be safer than traditional weapons. They're designed to only fire when paired with a second piece of technology that identifies the shooter, like an electronic chip or a fingerprint. Supporters say they could stop accidental shootings or misfires. And they've been lauded by law enforcement to prevent criminals from using stolen or misplaced guns. However, like any technology, they're not unhackable. A hacker known by the pseudonym Plore doesn't want to put a stop to smart guns, but he wants the firearm industry that's increasingly manufacturing these devices to know that they can be hacked. The model Plore hacked is called the Armatix IPI. It pairs electronically with a smart watch so that only the person wearing the watch can fire it. The devices authenticate users via radio signals, electronically talking to each other within a small range. Plore broke the security features in three different ways, including jamming radio signals in the weapon and watch so the gun couldn't be fired, and shooting the gun with no watch nearby by placing strong magnets next to the weapon.
I've long thought the two rather similar.
In theory, both are great ideas... in reality, no one can ever seem to get it right.
Don't worry though... THIS time, THIS time will be different! All of those previous attempts... those weren't real smart guns/communism!
Help Brendan pay off his student loans
"Mr X, this gun can only fire if you pull the trigger. You're going away for a long time."
"But I wasn't even in the city!"
"The gun says you were. GPS tracking confirms."
The next step after smart guns is Cloud Connected guns.
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The government could keep track of how much ammunition is used. This would provide valuable statistics for the department of the census bureaucracy.
Instead of requiring a fingerprint or gadget to authorize your gun to fire, you could authorize it to fire using an app on your smartphone. "hold on, just a sec, Mr. burglar, while I authorize my gun to activate . . . where did I put my phone . .
The government could revoke the firing of weapons that have been stolen. The government could also revoke the ability to fire any weapon to certain individuals. Especially crazy people. And crazy could have a technical definition, such as "the desire to own or use a firearm".
It's all for your protection.
Think of the children!
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
This hacker just demonstrated what gun advocates and critics of smart guns have been saying for years. The use of a gun is to stop a person or animal, often in a life or death situation. Guns are a powerful tool, and have historically relied on training to ensure gun safety and proper use. Smart guns attempt to take away some of that responsibility from the owner and in the process sacrifice key functionality. Guns have been developed over hundreds of years, and the modern gun is both extremely simple (relative to other technologies) and very reliable. As soon as you start adding other technologies, there are unintended consequences (or intended if you are a bit more cynical).
I am a firm believer in a constitutional amendment that subjects lawmakers first and foremost to their own legislation, and this is just another example of where that would be an excellent idea. I think that the every politician who voted to require smart guns who is armed, and every armed bodyguard that they have (all the gun grabbing libtard politicians are armed and/or have armed bodyguards BTW; classic do as I say, not as I do) should be required to carry only smart guns first and foremost. Tax dollars well spent in my opinion. That way they can experience the problems first hand (running out of battery or malfunctioning or being jammed by a wide band transmitter etc.) when their lives depend on it. After the first few politicians have their guns fail when their lives depend on it, I suspect their positions will change.
If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
You have to read very closely, but unintended fatal shootings in the US from 2005-2010 resulted in 3800 deaths, or roughly 760 per year. As a frame of reference, approximately 250,000 people die from medical mistakes at hospitals every year, yet there aren't any politicians trying to ban hospitals or regulate doctors.
Smart guns are a dumb idea trying to fix a problem that is much more effectively mitigated by proper education, training and proper storage of firearms (as evidenced by the fact that gun ownership is at an all time high, but accidental shootings are at nearly the lowest they have been ever). Smart guns tamper with and make less reliable the most effective self defense tool on the planet, potentially endangering the thousands of lives that are saved daily (every day hundreds of citizens use their concealed carry to protect themselves or others, and police officers do the same).
As with any tool in this imperfect world, there are accidents, misuse and abuse, but we must weigh the cost vs benefit of guns, something that the fascist progressives and Dims refuse to do (and have prevented the FBI from collecting statistics on; there is a very cynical reason that you can't find statistics on incidents where citizens save lives or property using their lawfully owned firearm, you can only find "gun deaths").
If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
Fired my first gun at the age of 9, owned my first gun at 11 and was allowed to take it out and use it anytime I wanted unsupervised.
Was taught some very simple rules about guns and have followed them my whole life, without exception ever.
1. Treat a gun as if its always loaded, even if you just unloaded it yourself, you act as if it is still loaded.
2. Never ever point a gun at anything you dont actually intend to shoot.
3. Finger off the trigger.
4. Identify risk down range.
There are more rules, but good teachers and role models make a big difference too.
And the fact that they lump in suicides with the larger gun death numbers.
Those should be weeded out, as that this person wants to off themselves, and would do it by most any means. It isn't an unintended death, the gun is working properly, but the method doesn't matter, it is what the person wanted to do.
I believe if someone wants to end their own life, well, sad as it is..that should be their choice.
If nothing else, it should be separated out as it's own number and not a wrongful death number.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
But man..."smart" guns IMHO are NOT a good thing to have.
To the contrary, smart guns are a good thing to have, and the fact that they can be hacked is almost irrelevant.
The primary useful thing about smart guns is that they prevent your toddler from finding your gun and killing you, themselves, or each other. This happens all the time-- 1300 children get killed by firearms per year. (alternate source)(another story on the subject).
Even, if as you say "I mean, having a firearm that my life may depend on in a home invasion, that may not fire if I'm not wearing a watch" -- that's actually a good thing, because the thing that you should most be worried about in a home invasion is getting killed by your own gun.
Worrying that a hacker is going to break into your home, hack your gun, and then kill you with it is pretty remote.
You really want a gun that only fires when you fire it. A gun that fires when you don't want it to is not a good thing.
http://www.geoffreylandis.com
Most of the home invasions I'm seeing reported, the criminals are bringing their own weapons to the party.
And at the very least, shouldn't it be MY decision to make?
And..what about those of us with no toddlers or all children grown and out of the house...or if your kids are older and responsible enough they too can have access to said guns?
One size does not fit all buddy.,
My parents took me and showed me our gun (we only had one early on)....I shot it with them, learned how to chamber a round, how to shoot, how to SAFELY handle a fire arm.
They showed me where it was kept, and I also had the fear of God put into me that I never, ever, ever had a reason to get it or touch it shy of someone breaking into our house or threatening me.
Most of my friends were raised this way too....none of us would even think about getting that gun out to play with or even look at without just cause.
It so happened, that one day while I was home and both parents were at work...I think I was in 9th grade or so....it was raining and some bum came to the front door knocking on it...asking for drink of water, etc.
I was scared, but didn't panic. I went back, got the gun, chambered a round, and waited near the front door...till this asshole went away about half an hour later.
After that, I took the gun back to my parent's room, removed the magazine, took the round out of the chamber and put the gun together and back where it was supposed to be.....and promptly called my Mom at work to tell what happened, she and my Dad were very happy with my behavior.
So, are all kids today just too stupid for such training....or is the problem we have too many stupid parents today who don't care to train their kids or discipline them on proper behavior (not just guns, but most anything in life)?
Toddlers and babies are one thing, but young kids can be trained and you only have to secure things as age appropriate....etc.
Right now, I"m not worried about any of that...and I do not need a 'smart' weapon adding a new potential level of failure when I may need to kill someone in my home.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
"I like to keep my guns loaded, chambered and hidden throughout the house...where I'm never but a few steps away from any weapon that I can grab, and pull the trigger on"
Not that your a paranoid nutjob or anything. What are you expecting, a home invasion by Chuck Norris?
In reverse order of stupidity of your post doctor's are highly regulated and banning hospitals would cause the death rate to skyrocket, not dip. What amazes me the most is that I don't even think you are trolling. You actually thought that was intelligent discourse and likely handle guns. [Shudder]
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
My parents took me and showed me our gun (we only had one early on)....I shot it with them, learned how to chamber a round, how to shoot, how to SAFELY handle a fire arm.
THIS.
The key to safety is knowledge, not fear.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Is it paranoid to have multiple fire extinguishers throughout the home, ready to go?
Better to have it and not need it...
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
>"How about this: You can have a mother f'in bazooka if I can have Single Payer healthcare & college tuition for my kid. Deal?"
I have a better deal- you pay for your own children (or let them get their own loans and pay for themselves) and get your own health insurance AND we also obey the 2nd amendment, too.
And I will further with: There is NOTHING in the Constitution that allows the federal government to mess with education nor health insurance, and if you want them to, then first you get a Constitutional Amendment passed.... then we'll talk about more Socialism after that.
I have no desire to have a firearm ever present for safety. I just like to shoot.
And I shouldn't have to justify it, either.
Oh, admit it: Nobody wants "safe" guns because of the mandates stated above: that once on the market, even if decidedly buggy, would then force ALL guns to be illegal that weren't "safe" guns. The laws exist, it's not a matter of conjecture.
In the end, you're just hoping to use this as a run around to eliminate firearms altogether, because they simply make you nervous.
If you really wanted to end gun violence, you'd address the root causes: gangs, drugs-such as the opioid epidemic, criminal culture, etc. You'd address gun safety training instead of barring it as a bogeyman in schools.
The key to safety is knowledge, not fear.
The key to safety is knowledge and a healthy respect for the dangers involved. One without the other leads to mistakes and, since we are humans, mistakes will always happen. This is one of the many reasons why most countries strictly control firearms. It's not fear of them but a healthy respect for the dangers they pose in the hands of random humans who are sometimes drunk, forgetful, distracted, insane etc. While it's fine for you to suffer from your own mistakes and actions when firearms are involved it is usually others who do the suffering.
So you get a choice: either to restrict access to firearms or you learn to live with mass shootings, a high murder rate and toddlers accidentally killing themselves. "Smart" guns are just one way to restrict access so if you prefer the deaths to restrictions on personal freedoms you should be opposed to them. Just don't fool yourself that guns are perfectly safe and pose no risks to anyone. They are designed to be lethal and are only safe when handled correctly which is never going to happen 100% of the time.
What value does a "smart gun" add that can't be had with a safety and/or trigger lock?
You're saying the optimal proximity range would be about six inches, which means the gun in purse could still be fired by (ex. by a toddler rooting around in there). The simple safety is enough to prevent that situation.
Six inches would also mean that you couldn't fire it with your other hand, should that be necessary, so I'd disagree with that proximity setting. Making it large enough to fire from either hand means 3 to 6 feet, which means the gun next to your bed could be fired by anyone walking in while you're sleeping.
Worse, if you need a watch/ring/bracelet, you're unlikely to be wearing it while you sleep. And where do you keep it when you take it off? ... probably right next to the weapon.
Smart guns are also said to prevent stolen weapons from being used, but this article debunks that. A couple magnets and it's easier for the would be criminal to use than for the owner.
There's also a significant cost difference. You can get a master lock combination trigger lock for $13 (ie. no need for a key), and keyed ones are even cheaper. FWIW, I'm not saying that trigger locks should be mandated, nor should they be used in all situations, but, for the cases where you need/want to make sure that it's not used by someone else accidentally, they work perfectly.
Smart guns may have a place in some special situations, but certainly not across the entire market.
I like to keep my guns loaded, chambered and hidden throughout the house...where I'm never but a few steps away from any weapon that I can grab, and pull the trigger on (some do have safety on, but the glocks do not).
Sweet Jesus, are you that paranoid that someone wants to come take your shit? What is going on with you mentally that you have multiple guns, cocked and loaded all over your house? What is wrong with you, why are you so scared of everything?
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!