Read Online Kill Process by William Hertling - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: William Hertling
Ads: Link
police officer commits the abuse. If the victim does report it, they’re almost never believed. Even when they are believed, neither police nor prosecutors are likely to do anything. They protect one another. Cops are fired for failing a single marijuana test, but remain on the job after battering a spouse.
Like homelessness, abuse of power in authority is a complex problem without a simple fix. Except in this case. I’m here now.
Sam’s wife, Kelly, has been in the hospital six times. I know this despite the fact that neither he nor his wife use Tomo. Both of their identical phones came with the Tomo app preinstalled, an arrangement Tomo pays the cellphone providers three bucks per device to ensure. The Tomo service runs in the background, reporting geospatial and other data, even though the user never signed up.
Some imagine they can avoid us simply by not using Tomo. It’s not that easy. We track the non-users too, in the hopes of figuring out what makes them tick and how to convert them to active users.
At any rate, I’m here now because Kelly is out of town. She got a text on Monday about a sick relative, flew out on Tuesday, and isn’t expected back until Saturday. I had nothing to do with it, but I’m not going to overlook a gift when it shows up.
Sam’s in the house alone, which opens up a world of opportunities.
In a more ideal case, I’d be able to use a remote exploit, but they don’t own any smart appliances directly connected to the Internet I can exploit. They do have a wireless diagnostic interface on their furnace and a local network of connected smart detectors for smoke, fire, and carbon monoxide.
It’s 3:30 when I pull up in front of their home. Lights are off, as they are for all the neighbors. I pull a clean laptop out of my bag, attach a directional antenna, and brute-force attack the smart detectors.
It takes six minutes before I’m in, exploiting the lousy random number generator the detector manufacturer uses at the factory, leaving the attack space for encryption keys way smaller than it should be. Once I’m in, I trigger the detectors’ programming mode, a setting normally used only in R&D. All this learned thanks to DEF CON, the annual hackers’ conference, where someone shared this exploit in an after-hours party room. In programming mode, although the LEDs flash, the audible alerts don’t sound. Presumably the firmware developers didn’t want to listen to blaring alarms while they were testing devices.
Next I go after the installed furnace, a smart device like every household appliance built in the last five years. Although the Bekins household never connected it to the Internet, the embedded computer still runs a hidden wi-fi hotspot to make it easier for service technicians to connect to. With the detectors effectively disabled, I redirect my laptop connection to the furnace, creating a peer-to-peer network with the same directional antenna. The furnace doesn’t possess any protection at all besides the original factory password they’ve never bothered to change. I download a firmware update, and five minutes later, the furnace reboots. I’ve changed the combustion settings, and now the furnace is generating copious quantities of carbon monoxide as it also runs the ventilation fan backwards with the cleaning duct open. These three things should never happen at the same time, but they are now.
My rough calculations predict the house will hit 600 ppm carbon monoxide, a lethal level, in twenty minutes. After ten, the levels are at 250 ppm. Even if Sam woke now, he’d be too befuddled to rescue himself. At twenty minutes, the levels reach 500 ppm. Not wanting to risk a botched job, I wait a whole hour. The carbon monoxide crosses over 1,000 ppm, and I back out my changes, leaving only the cleaning ducts open.
Without ever getting out of my car or even cracking the window, my work is done. It’s 4:45. I’ve got two and a half hours of driving to look forward to. Back
Like homelessness, abuse of power in authority is a complex problem without a simple fix. Except in this case. I’m here now.
Sam’s wife, Kelly, has been in the hospital six times. I know this despite the fact that neither he nor his wife use Tomo. Both of their identical phones came with the Tomo app preinstalled, an arrangement Tomo pays the cellphone providers three bucks per device to ensure. The Tomo service runs in the background, reporting geospatial and other data, even though the user never signed up.
Some imagine they can avoid us simply by not using Tomo. It’s not that easy. We track the non-users too, in the hopes of figuring out what makes them tick and how to convert them to active users.
At any rate, I’m here now because Kelly is out of town. She got a text on Monday about a sick relative, flew out on Tuesday, and isn’t expected back until Saturday. I had nothing to do with it, but I’m not going to overlook a gift when it shows up.
Sam’s in the house alone, which opens up a world of opportunities.
In a more ideal case, I’d be able to use a remote exploit, but they don’t own any smart appliances directly connected to the Internet I can exploit. They do have a wireless diagnostic interface on their furnace and a local network of connected smart detectors for smoke, fire, and carbon monoxide.
It’s 3:30 when I pull up in front of their home. Lights are off, as they are for all the neighbors. I pull a clean laptop out of my bag, attach a directional antenna, and brute-force attack the smart detectors.
It takes six minutes before I’m in, exploiting the lousy random number generator the detector manufacturer uses at the factory, leaving the attack space for encryption keys way smaller than it should be. Once I’m in, I trigger the detectors’ programming mode, a setting normally used only in R&D. All this learned thanks to DEF CON, the annual hackers’ conference, where someone shared this exploit in an after-hours party room. In programming mode, although the LEDs flash, the audible alerts don’t sound. Presumably the firmware developers didn’t want to listen to blaring alarms while they were testing devices.
Next I go after the installed furnace, a smart device like every household appliance built in the last five years. Although the Bekins household never connected it to the Internet, the embedded computer still runs a hidden wi-fi hotspot to make it easier for service technicians to connect to. With the detectors effectively disabled, I redirect my laptop connection to the furnace, creating a peer-to-peer network with the same directional antenna. The furnace doesn’t possess any protection at all besides the original factory password they’ve never bothered to change. I download a firmware update, and five minutes later, the furnace reboots. I’ve changed the combustion settings, and now the furnace is generating copious quantities of carbon monoxide as it also runs the ventilation fan backwards with the cleaning duct open. These three things should never happen at the same time, but they are now.
My rough calculations predict the house will hit 600 ppm carbon monoxide, a lethal level, in twenty minutes. After ten, the levels are at 250 ppm. Even if Sam woke now, he’d be too befuddled to rescue himself. At twenty minutes, the levels reach 500 ppm. Not wanting to risk a botched job, I wait a whole hour. The carbon monoxide crosses over 1,000 ppm, and I back out my changes, leaving only the cleaning ducts open.
Without ever getting out of my car or even cracking the window, my work is done. It’s 4:45. I’ve got two and a half hours of driving to look forward to. Back
Similar Books
