RISKS-LIST: Risks-Forum Digest Tuesday 14 March 2023 Volume 33 : Issue 64

ACM FORUM ON RISKS TO THE PUBLIC IN COMPUTERS AND RELATED SYSTEMS (comp.risks)
Peter G. Neumann, founder and still moderator

***** See last item for further information, disclaimers, caveats, etc. *****
This issue is archived at <http://www.risks.org> as
<http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/33.64>
The current issue can also be found at
<http://www.csl.sri.com/users/risko/risks.txt>

Contents:
Why I'm sticking up for science (Richard Dawkins)
What Can We Do to Make Sure the FAA and Southwest Airlines Fiascos Never
Happen Again? (Scientific American)
FAA reports 'close call' between two planes at Logan Airport (Boston Globe)
Pilot Error Caused an F-35C Crash in the South China Sea in 2022
(Popular Mechanics)
How many satellites can we fit into space before it gets too much?
(Jonathan McDowell)
The Gare de Lyon Disaster (via Steve Bacher)
North American rail operations *Peter Bernard Ladkin)
Controller-level flaws can let hackers physically damage moving bridges
(Waqas)
Safety Advocates Say Hyundai, Kia's Anti-Theft Upgrade Doesn't Go Far Enough
(NBC Chicago)
A 120-year-old company is leaving Tesla in the dust (Ezra Dyer)
Ford files patent for system that could remotely repossess a car (ArsTech)
Apple Now Offering Depth and Water Seal Tests for Apple Watch Ultra
(MacRumors)
Apple Blocks Update of ChatGPT-Powered App, as Concerns Grow Over AI's
Potential Harm (WSJ)
How the Biggest Fraud in German History Unraveled (The New Yorker)
U.S. Marshals Service target of 'major' cyber-attack (BBC)
Indigo won't pay ransom for stolen employee data (CBC)
LastPass Says DevOps Engineer Home Computer Hacked (SecurityWeek)
U.S. Air Force Giving Military Drones the Ability to Recognize Faces
(David Hambling)
Researchers Find New Bug 'Class' in Apple Devices (Alex Scroxton)
At Least One Open-Source Vulnerability Found in 84% of Code Bases
(Apurva Venkat)
The Satellite Hack Everyone Is Finally Talking About (Bloomberg)
Inside the Lab Growing Mushroom Computers (Charlotte Hu)
Fact check: A deepfake video falsely depicted Elizabeth Warren speaking
about Republicans (The Boston Globe)
Voice Deepfakes Of Everyone From Joe Rogan To Joe Biden Are Taking Over
Social Media (Buzzfeed)
How to make a bad situation worse: Developers Created AI to Generate Police
Sketches. Experts Are Horrified (Vice)
How I Broke Into a Bank Account With an AI-Generated Voice (vice.com)
AI chatbots may have a liability problem (WashPost)
Large Language Models Are Biased. Can Logic Help Save Them? (Rachel Gordon)
Quantum Computers That Use 'Cat Qubits' May Make Fewer Errors
(Karmela Padavic-Callaghan)
The privacy loophole in your doorbell (Politico)
iPhone thieves use social engineering to obtain passcode (Barrons)
The Era of Faked CCTV Has Truly Arrived (WiReD)
AI-powered watermark removal poses uncomfortable implications for content
use (Jeremy Gray -- Digital Photography Review)
ChatGPT Could Destroy Reality, According to Henry Kissinger
(Mack DeGeurin -- Gizmodo)
Re: Microsoft Researchers Use ChatGPT to Control Robots, Drones
(Gavin Scott, Goldy)
Re: Power-Grid Attacks Surge and Are Likely to Continue, Study Finds
(Steve Bacher)
Re: Put Electrical Transmission Lines Underground? Distributed is a NIMBY
fantasy (John Levine)
Re: rm -rf (Charles Cazabon, Jose Maria Mateos)
Re: SMS-Based Multi-Factor Authentication: What Could Go Wrong?
(John Levine, Jay Lobove Alzina, Bernie Cosell)
Re: Congress must act to keep kids off social media (Barry Gold0
Re: Google Issues article from 14 years ago, still relevant today
(Barry Gold)
Re: AI is starting to pick who gets laid off (Steve Bacher)
Re: Cox Cable phone follies (Wol)
Abridged info on RISKS (comp.risks)

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Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2023 06:54:46 -0700
From: geoff goodfellow <geoff@iconia.com>
Subject: Why I'm sticking up for science (Richard Dawkins)

I'm in New Zealand, climax to my antipodean speaking tour, where I walked
headlong into a raging controversy. Jacinda Ardern's government implemented
a ludicrous policy, spawned by Chris Hipkins's Ministry of Education before
he became prime minister. Science classes are to be taught that M=C4=81ori
`Ways of Knowing' (M=C4=81tauranga M=C4=81ori) have equal standing with
`western' science. Not surprisingly, this adolescent virtue-signaling
horrified New Zealand's grown-up scientists and scholars. Seven of them
wrote to the *Listener *magazine. Three who were fellows of the NZ Royal
Society were threatened with an inquisitorial investigation. Two of these,
including the distinguished medical scientist Garth Cooper, himself of
M=C4=81ori descent, resigned (the third unfortunately died). I was delighted
to meet Professor Cooper for lunch, with others of the seven. His
resignation letter cited the society's failure to support science against
its denigration as `a western European invention'. He was affronted, too, by
a complaint (not endorsed by the NZRS) that `to insist M=C4=81ori children
learn to read is an act of colonisation'. Is there an implication here --
condescending, if not downright racist -- that `indigenous' children need
separate, special treatment?

Perhaps the most disagreeable aspect of this sorry affair is the climate of
fear. We who don't have a career to lose should speak out in defence of
those who do. The magnificent seven are branded heretics by a nastily
zealous new religion, a witch-hunt that recalls the false accusations
against J.K. Rowling and Kathleen Stock. Professor Kendall Clements was
removed from teaching evolution at the University of Auckland, after the
School of Biological Sciences Putaiao Committee submitted the following
recommendation: ``We do not feel that either Kendall or Garth should be put
in front of students as teachers. This is not safe for students.'' Not
*safe*? Who are these cringing little wimps whose `safety' requires
protection against free speech? What on earth do they think a university is
for?

To grasp government intentions requires a little work, because every third
word of the relevant documents is in M=C4=81ori. Since only 2 per cent of
New Zealanders (and only 5 per cent of M=C4=81oris) speak that language,
this again looks like self-righteous virtue-signaling, bending a knee to
that modish version of Original Sin which is white guilt. M=C4=81tauranga
M=C4=81ori includes valuable tips on edible fungi, star navigation and
species conservation (pity the moas were all eaten). Unfortunately it is
deeply invested in vitalism. New Zealand children will be taught the true
wonder of DNA, while being simultaneously confused by the doctrine that all
life throbs with a vital force conferred by the Earth Mother and the Sky
Father. Origin myths are haunting and poetic, but they belong elsewhere in
the curriculum. The very phrase `western' science buys into the `relativist'
notion that evolution and big-bang cosmology are just the origin myth of
white western men, a narrative whose hegemony over `indigenous' alternatives
stems from nothing better than political power. This is pernicious
nonsense. Science belongs to all humanity. It is humanity's proud best shot
at discovering the truth about the real world. [...]

https://www.removepaywall.com/https:/www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-im-sticking-up-for-science

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 03 Mar 2023 13:39:17 +0000
From: Richard Marlon Stein <rmstein@protonmail.com>
Subject: What Can We Do to Make Sure the FAA and Southwest Airlines Fiascos
Never Happen Again? (Scientific American)

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-can-we-do-to-make-sure-the-faa-and-southwest-airlines-fiascos-never-happen-again/

Congress and the airline industry must reassess how they approach and fund
air-transportation modernization.

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Date: Wed, 1 Mar 2023 12:32:01 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: FAA reports 'close call' between two planes at Logan Airport
(The Boston Globe)

https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2023/02/28/logan-airport-close-call-jet-blue-learjet/

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2023 17:50:36 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Pilot Error Caused an F-35C Crash in the South China Sea in 2022

An F-35 Pilot Attempted a Maneuver, Ending in a Fiery Crash

https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/aviation/a43045858/pilot-error-crashed-f-35c-strike-fighter/

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2023 14:39:07 -0700
From: geoff goodfellow <geoff@iconia.com>
Subject: How many satellites can we fit into space before it gets too much?

*"It's going to be like an interstate highway in a rush hour in a snowstorm
with everyone driving much too fast."*

Just 10 years ago, a mere thousand or so operational satellites may have
orbited our planet, but there will be tens or even hundreds of thousands a
decade from now.