RISKS-LIST: Risks-Forum Digest Wednesday 13 September 2023 Vol 33 : Issue 84

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/33.84>
The current issue can also be found at
<http://www.csl.sri.com/users/risko/risks.txt>

Contents:
Pratt Engine Flaw to Idle Hundreds of A320 Planes for Years (Yahoo!)
China Uses AI to Spread Lies about U.S. fire (NYTimes)
AI voices are taking over the Internet (The Verge)
Another group of writers is suing OpenAI over copyright claims
(The Verge)
Some things to talk with your kids about AI (MIT Tech Review)
How the Navy Spent Billions on Failed Littoral Combat Ship Program
(ProPublica)
Voting rights activists sound alarms over private tool that could lead to
canceling voter registrations (CNN)
Teen's Smart Pill Bottle Reminds People to Take Their Medication
on Time (The Institute Alert)
How to Navigate Apple's Shift From Lightning to USB-C (NYTimes)
FTC says Elon Musk may have jeopardized data privacy and security
at Twitter (Enqadget)
Susanna Gibson Saga: So What if a Candidate Livestreamed Sex Acts with Her
Husband? (Politico)
Re: San Franciscans Are Having Sex in Robotaxis (Henry Baker)
Re: Pedestrian dies after Cruise cars block ambulance (Steve Lamont)
Re: Vintage Car prices (Anthony Thorn)
Abridged info on RISKS (comp.risks)

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Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2023 07:16:13 +0900
From: David Farber <farber@keio.jp>
Subject: Pratt Engine Flaw to Idle Hundreds of A320 Planes for Years
(Yahoo!)

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pratt-engine-flaw-idle-hundreds-134426871.html

[No joke: This is really a serious prat(t)fall. PGN]

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

Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2023 20:31:24 PDT
From: Peter Neumann <neumann@csl.sri.com>
Subject: China Uses AI to Spread Lies about U.S. fire (NYTimes)

David E. Sanger and Steven Lee Myers
*The New York Times* national edition front page, 12 Sep 2023
Maui disinformation.
Covert campaign shows rapid shift in tactics against the West.

``The disaster was not natural, ... but was the result of a secret `weather
weapon' being tested by the United States,'' according to the Chinese
disinformation. To bolster the plausibility, the posts carried photographs
that appeared to have been generated by artificial intelligence programs,
making them among the first to use these new tools to bolster the aura of
authenticity of a disinformation campaign.

[This seems to reach into far-fetched territory that is indistinguishable
from truth to those who believe their government. It gave me just one
more truth-ache. (Somewhat ironically, I finally got around to reading
the article at two-thirty!) PGN]

Same basic story with online variant title:
China Sows Disinformation About Hawaii Fires Using New Techniques

David E. Sanger and Steven Lee Myers,
*The New York Times*, 11 Sep 2023

Researchers at Microsoft, the University of Maryland, and other
organizations found China's government is utilizing new methods to
promulgate disinformation about last month's wildfires on Maui, claiming
they resulted from tests of a secret "weather weapon." Such content includes
photos apparently produced by artificial intelligence to add plausibility to
Beijing's false narrative. The campaign seems to indicate China has shifted
tactics from intensifying state propaganda to actively spreading discord in
the U.S. The researchers suggested China was amassing a network of accounts
that could be leveraged in future information (or disinformation) campaigns
for ``amplifying conspiracy theories that are not directly related to some
of their interests, like Taiwan,'' said Brian Liston at cybersecurity
company Recorded Future. [...]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/11/us/politics/china-disinformation-ai.html

[Also noted by Jan Wolitzky. PGN]

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

Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2023 22:01:32 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: AI voices are taking over the Internet (The Verge)

https://www.theverge.com/23864878/ai-voice-clones-podcastle-elevenlabs-personal-voice

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

Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2023 21:59:12 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Another group of writers is suing OpenAI over copyright claims
(The Verge)

https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/11/23869145/writers-sue-openai-chatgpt-copyright-claims

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

Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2023 16:25:24 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Some things to talk with your kids about AI (MIT Tech Review)

You need to talk to your kid about AI. Here are 6 things you should say.

As children start back at school this week, it's not just ChatGPT you need
to be thinking about.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/09/05/1079009/you-need-to-talk-to-your-kid-about-ai-here-are-6-things-you-should-say/

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

Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2023 01:21:35 -0400
From: Gabe Goldberg <gabe@gabegold.com>
Subject: How the Navy Spent Billions on Failed Littoral
Combat Ship Program (ProPublica)

Littoral combat ships were supposed to launch the Navy into the future.
Instead they broke down across the globe and many of their weapons never
worked. Now the Navy is getting rid of them. One is less than five years
old.

https://www.propublica.org/article/how-navy-spent-billions-littoral-combat-ship

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

Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2023 10:16:02 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Voting rights activists sound alarms over private tool
that could lead to canceling voter registrations (CNN)

https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/11/politics/voting-rights-new-tool-canceling-registrations/index.html

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

Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2023 12:01:45 -0500 (CDT)
From: IEEE Spectrum <ieee-spectrum@deliver.ieee.org>
Subject: Teen's Smart Pill Bottle Reminds People to Take Their Medication
on Time (The Institute Alert)

https://engage.ieee.org/index.php/email/emailWebview?mkt_tok=NzU2LUdQSC04OTkAAAGOKVAynFor4c536iBF8GvZS9Y51TiH99Lm_PftVwgNANl4PoYW_JcyTayCD1Zkr2s1fBfYBD6r7y44aQ7EbX_upyF6hk_qohx6g6OdzAao0WY&md_id=78636

[The Internet of Meds Things is presumably hackable? PGN]

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

Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2023 20:29:00 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: How to Navigate Apple's Shift From Lightning to USB-C (NYTimes)

The dream of carrying one power cable for all your devices is becoming a
reality. But things aren't as simple as they sound.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/technology/personaltech/apple-iphone-lightning-usb-c.html

[Side comment: The Thunderclap paper notes that Apple had only partially
resolved the generic USB-C security problems. I wonder if it is better
now. PGN]

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

Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2023 22:14:44 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: FTC says Elon Musk may have jeopardized data privacy and security
at Twitter (Enqadget)

https://www.engadget.com/ftc-says-elon-musk-may-have-jeopardized-data-privacy-and-security-at-twitter-232642914.html

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

Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2023 21:54:03 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: Susanna Gibson Saga: So What if a Candidate Livestreamed
Sex Acts with Her Husband? (Politico)

[Re: RISKS-33.83]

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/09/12/candidate-livestreamed-sex-acts-00115395

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

Date: Tue, 12 Sep 2023 17:18:31 +0000
From: Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com>
Subject: Re: San Franciscans Are Having Sex in Robotaxis

My grandmother, born late 1880's, told me ~1960 that she liked
horse-drawn dates when she was a teenager because "the horse
knew the way home".

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

Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2023 10:38:51 -0700
From: Steve Lamont <spl@tirebiter.org>
Subject: Re: Pedestrian dies after Cruise cars block ambulance
(RISKS-33.83)

A few observations:

> A pedestrian injured in a traffic collision in San Francisco died; EMTs
> allege that they would have survived had two Cruise cars and an unoccupied
> police car not prevented the ambulance from leaving promptly.

First: It helps to read the entire story and not just the headline:

[. . .] Cruise spokesperson Tiffany Testo countered that one of the
cars cleared the scene and that traffic to the right of it remained
unblocked. "The ambulance behind the AV had a clear path to pass the
AV as other vehicles, including another ambulance, proceeded to do,"
she wrote in a statement to SFGATE.

Second: You will note that the injury to the pedestrian was apparently
driver `caused by a "driverful" automobile, but apparently nobody is raising
a stink over "'death traps' and a menace to disabled people and children[1]"
in vehicles driven by humans. We just seem to accept that as a part of day
to day life.