> Doesn't that apply equally to every Western product which has a CPU? Like that cars made by a billionaire who makes rockets and digs tunnels?
Well, I don't know about the qualification process for tunnel digger or EV components. In aerospace, each and every part you use goes through a very detailed qualification process before it is selected into a design.
Industry is based on trust. Using TSMC as an example, every semiconductor company using their foundry works on the basis of trust and verification. In other words, there's a likely reasonable expectation and assurance that the chips will be made as designed and not modified with nefarious intent.
You then have companies like ST Micro, who are heavily investing in their own fabs. There are assurances there as well.
My guess is that the path to potentially dangerous technology might be through products entirely made in China. A Chinese EV has no US or European regulatory oversight of any kind for potentially malicious software and back door access. The same is true of such things as EV chargers and other potentially critical components.
The vectors for such attacks don't have to necessarily be destructive. I'll give you a simple example: We do not make display modules in the US. We don't make the chips that drive them either. Nobody knows what's in them. They are black boxes designers use to make computer monitors, laptops, car dashboards, medical and industrial equipment. It wouldn't be too crazy to add circuitry into these chips to be able to simply shut down or alter the operation of displays at a massive scale. Bingo! You make hundreds of millions of systems inoperable.
This is clearly in crazy conspiracy theory territory. Then again:
In that case, eleven million cars were sold worldwide between 2009 and 2015. This makes me believe that automotive hardware and software don't really get scrutinized at a level necessary to prevent their use with nefarious intent. Perhaps the new potential reality will change this?
Imagine buying a bunch of Chinese humanoids to work at your factory. Now imagine how much you'd have to trust them. Do you? I am not sure I would.
Way back when the first Bamboo Lab 3D printer came out, I supported their project on Kickstarter and got a few of them. When delivered, we learned they had to connect to the Bamboo (Chinese) cloud service for everything, from printing to software updates and more. Returning them was not possible. We sold them all and got rid of the potential exposure.
Well, I don't know about the qualification process for tunnel digger or EV components. In aerospace, each and every part you use goes through a very detailed qualification process before it is selected into a design.
Industry is based on trust. Using TSMC as an example, every semiconductor company using their foundry works on the basis of trust and verification. In other words, there's a likely reasonable expectation and assurance that the chips will be made as designed and not modified with nefarious intent.
You then have companies like ST Micro, who are heavily investing in their own fabs. There are assurances there as well.
My guess is that the path to potentially dangerous technology might be through products entirely made in China. A Chinese EV has no US or European regulatory oversight of any kind for potentially malicious software and back door access. The same is true of such things as EV chargers and other potentially critical components.
The vectors for such attacks don't have to necessarily be destructive. I'll give you a simple example: We do not make display modules in the US. We don't make the chips that drive them either. Nobody knows what's in them. They are black boxes designers use to make computer monitors, laptops, car dashboards, medical and industrial equipment. It wouldn't be too crazy to add circuitry into these chips to be able to simply shut down or alter the operation of displays at a massive scale. Bingo! You make hundreds of millions of systems inoperable.
This is clearly in crazy conspiracy theory territory. Then again:
https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/30/att_verizon_confirm_s...