Kareeser
May 17th, 2009, 02:38 PM
Article: Buggy breathalyzer code reflects importance of source review (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/05/buggy-breathalyzer-code-reflects-importance-of-source-review.ars)
On the one hand, it's interesting to note that this proprietary technology is poorly designed, and it's a good thing that these faults are brought to light so they can be fixed...
But on the other hand, we've been trusting Breathalyzers to do their job flawlessly without question, so it makes me wonder what else on the closed-source market could be potentially poorly coded.
I also applaud Ars for not technically revealing how to trigger the buffer overload in the system.... even though it would be a miracle if you could manage to somehow inject code into the breathalyzer while intoxicated... without a computer...
On the one hand, it's interesting to note that this proprietary technology is poorly designed, and it's a good thing that these faults are brought to light so they can be fixed...
But on the other hand, we've been trusting Breathalyzers to do their job flawlessly without question, so it makes me wonder what else on the closed-source market could be potentially poorly coded.
I also applaud Ars for not technically revealing how to trigger the buffer overload in the system.... even though it would be a miracle if you could manage to somehow inject code into the breathalyzer while intoxicated... without a computer...