[33866] in RISKS Forum
Risks Digest 34.89
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (RISKS List Owner)
Thu Feb 26 17:53:20 2026
From: RISKS List Owner <risko@csl.sri.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2026 15:01:29 PST
To: risks@mit.edu
RISKS-LIST: Risks-Forum Digest Thursday 26 February 2026 Volume 34 : Issue 89
ACM FORUM ON RISKS TO THE PUBLIC IN COMPUTERS AND RELATED SYSTEMS (comp.risks)
Peter G. Neumann, founder and still moderator
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This issue is archived at <http://www.risks.org> as
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Contents:
Carmakers Push Toward 'Eyes-Off' Driving (Reuters)
New Commuter Rail fare gates at Boston's South Station break down again
(The Boston Globe)
The New Billionaire Battle for the Moon (Henry Baker)
CarGurus data breach affects 12.5 million accounts (TechCrunch)
Disabling photograph enhancement for medical purposes? (Dan Ritter)
Meta director of AI Safety almost has her entire Inbox deleted by rogue AI
agent (404media)
AI Evangelists on a Mission to Shake Up Japan (The NY Times)
The Lesson of AI Literacy Class: Don't Let Chatbots Think for You
(Natasha Singer)
AI-Assisted Hacker Breached 600 Fortinet Firewalls in Five Weeks
(Lawrence Abrams)
Low-Cost Computers Nearly Double in Price as RAM Shortage Hits
(Matthew S. Smith)
Abridged info on RISKS (comp.risks)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2026 11:36:06 -0500 (EST)
From: ACM TechNews <technews-editor@acm.org>
Subject: Carmakers Push Toward 'Eyes-Off' Driving (Reuters)
Nora Eckert and Abhirup Roy, Reuters (02/23/26)
Automakers are advancing Level-3 "eyes-off" autonomous driving systems that
allow drivers to disengage unless prompted to retake control, but safety,
cost, and liability concerns are slowing adoption. Development of
highway-capable Level-3 systems can cost up to $1.5 billion, roughly double
the investment required for Level-2 features, according to McKinsey.
Mercedes-Benz, the only automaker to launch Level-3 in the U.S., has paused
its rollout due to limited demand, while others have scaled back plans.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2026 09:27:30 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: New Commuter Rail fare gates at Boston's South Station break down again
(The Boston Globe)
New Commuter Rail fare gates at South Station break down again The fare
gates have now been closed twice due to harsh winter conditions since they
opened late last year.
https://www.boston.com/news/transportation/2026/02/22/new-commuter-rail-fare-gates-at-south-station-break-down-again/
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2026 01:21:19 +0000
From: Henry Baker <hbaker1@pipeline.com>
Subject: The New Billionaire Battle for the Moon
Musk is prioritizing the Moon ahead of Mars, for the same reason why the
U.S. prioritized the Midwest and the Louisiana Purchase ahead of South
America and Hawaii: the Midwest was a lot closer, and it was also
*contested* by the French, Spanish and British in the late 18th and early
19th Centuries. The Moon is being targeted by Chinese, so the US has to
establish a number of bases there ASAP, in order that future Moon men &
women will speak English rather than Chinese.
Musk is quite aware that Magellan himself didn't make it back home from
trying to circumnavigate the Earth, having died in the Philippines -- only
about half-way there.
SpaceX will retain its monopoly on being able to reach Mars, but "flooding
the zone" on the Moon is strategically more important for the next decade or
two.
BTW, Musk's idea for a Lunar Catapult is an terrific idea, as the Moon's
gravity is so much less than the Earth's, and the Moon has negligible
atmosphere to get in the way. Such a catapult could launch spacecraft in
almost a machine-gun-like fashion. Such catapults could build a Starlink
galaxy of satellites to cover the Moon in a few weeks at very low cost.
Perhaps a Moon catapult will become the fastest and cheapest way to colonize
Mars.
[From geoff goodfellow, on the same article:
*Elon Musk has changed his focus from Mars to a lunar base, going head to
head with Jeff Bezos* PGN]
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 24 Feb 2026 23:51:38 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: CarGurus data breach affects 12.5 million accounts (TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/24/cargurus-data-breach-affects-12-5-million-accounts/
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2026 09:47:50 -0500
From: Dan Ritter <dsr-risks@randomstring.org>
Subject: Disabling photograph enhancement for medical purposes?
I'm in hospital right now, watching a nurse take a photo of my arm,
where she just removed an IV needle. It's really quite unphotogenic.
And that's the point: nurses and doctors (and patients at home using
tele-medicine services) don't take pictures of pleasant, unblemished skin.
The doctor looking at the picture needs to see as close to the "truth" as
possible.
But Apple and Google and Samsung seem to have stopped competing on taking
the most accurate, in-focus photos and have switched to "AI enhancement" as
a default.
Obviously medical personnel aren't using Snapchat filters. Can the other,
subtler reality-bending enhancements be turned off?
It appears that on Apple iPhones, the answer is yes -- but the method is
very strange. It's hidden in a setting called "Prioritize Faster Shooting".
I have not found similar workarounds for other phones yet.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2026 08:48:00 -0800
From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>
Subject: Meta director of AI Safety almost has her entire Inbox deleted by
rogue AI agent (404media)
https://www.404media.co/meta-director-of-ai-safety-allows-ai-agent-to-accidentally-delete-her-inbox/
[That's fairly safe except if someone else can UNDO. PGN]
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2026 11:36:06 -0500 (EST)
From: ACM TechNews <technews-editor@acm.org>
Subject: AI Evangelists on a Mission to Shake Up Japan (The NY Times)
Javier C. Hernandez and Kiuko Notoya, *The New York Times* (02/22/26)
Team Mirai (Team Future), a political party founded by tech professionals,
won 11 seats in the lower house of Japan's Parliament earlier this month
with a platform focused on using emerging technologies to make the
government more efficient and responsive, and to address the nation's labor
shortage. Team Mirai aims to develop advanced government databases, deploy
government chatbots and self-driving buses, and promote AI development and
deployment.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2026 11:36:06 -0500 (EST)
From: ACM TechNews <technews-editor@acm.org>
Subject: The Lesson of AI Literacy Class: Don't Let Chatbots Think for You
(Natasha Singer)
Natasha Singer, The New York Times (02/23/26), via ACM TechNews
High schools across the U.S. are introducing AI literacy courses aimed at
teaching students how to critically evaluate and responsibly use AI
tools. At Washington Park High School in Newark, NJ, for example, seniors
are learning when to rely on chatbots and when to think independently,
treating AI use as a skill that requires judgment rather than passive
adoption. The push comes amid debate over whether chatbots enhance learning
or undermine critical thinking, with U.S. President Trump issuing an
executive order last year urging schools to teach "foundational AI literacy"
starting in kindergarten.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2026 11:36:06 -0500 (EST)
From: ACM TechNews <technews-editor@acm.org>
Subject: AI-Assisted Hacker Breached 600 Fortinet Firewalls in Five Weeks
(Lawrence Abrams)
Lawrence Abrams, BleepingComputer (02/21/26), via ACM TechNews
Amazon Integrated Security researchers found more than 600 of Fortinet's
FortiGate firewalls in 55 countries were breached over a five-week period
earlier this year with the help of AI. The hacking campaign involved a
Russian-speaking hacker who targeted exposed FortiGate management interfaces
and weak credentials without multi-factor authentication, used brute-force
attacks with common passwords to access the firewalls, and used multiple
generative AI services to automate access to other devices on the breached
networks.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 25 Feb 2026 11:36:06 -0500 (EST)
From: ACM TechNews <technews-editor@acm.org>
Subject: Low-Cost Computers Nearly Double in Price as RAM Shortage Hits
(Matthew S. Smith)
Matthew S. Smith, IEEE Spectrum (02/23/26), via ACM TechNews
Low-cost computer makers are feeling the burden of surging memory costs as
demand for AI hardware increases demand for computer memory. Because memory
makes up a large share of their production costs and models differ mainly by
memory upgrades, such devices are hit hardest. While larger companies can
secure lower prices through big or long-term contracts, low-cost computer
makers have little room to negotiate on price.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2023 11:11:11 -0800
From: RISKS-request@csl.sri.com
Subject: Abridged info on RISKS (comp.risks)
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End of RISKS-FORUM Digest 34.89
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