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Slovakia finds Russian backdoor in traffic speed cameras

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Re: Slovakia finds Russian backdoor in traffic speed cameras

#171

Post by kakacik »

buran77 wrote: post #129
kakacik wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, globalization gave them as a nation a chance and they mostly didn't do any serious effort to use that. Its 1000 little decisions here and that that led to some post-soviet-sphere countries to thrive, while others stumble and generally gain prosperity mostly from being dragged into it via EU membership. Ie specifically Slovakia is / used to be a big car factory for whole EU due to low salaries. Not really somethin…

> and they mostly didn't do any serious effort to use that. Those countries who were fresh from behind the iron curtain were really dealt a bad hand. They had lived in a "protective bubble", albeit a very unsustainable one and suddenly were thrown in the ocean surrounded by sharks looking for an easy meal. Almost every one of those people found themselves desperate but "inexperienced" and unprepared for the new world…

Well, yes and no. This is valid across 2 decades, not something that happened over 6 months after iron curtain fell. And in some way it continues till today, rule of law is still pretty weak for example and politicians often sidestep laws valid for everybody else. Thats really indefensible and completely on population, not some evil forces outside conspiring to harm.

Also, most corruption, or ie sale of factories worth billions for thousands/millions was mostly to local people, not outsiders.

Re: Slovakia finds Russian backdoor in traffic speed cameras

#173

Post by toasty228 »

kakacik wrote: post #108
toasty228 wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Older people in these countries have good memories of that time, employment and housing were basically a given, healthcare and public transportation were solved, etc. They're very easy to manipulate, promise them a 13th month of pension and they'll vote for you. I don't think you understand how bad globalization fucked up these countries, people live with their parents until they're 30+, young people can't find decen…

No, globalization gave them as a nation a chance and they mostly didn't do any serious effort to use that. Its 1000 little decisions here and that that led to some post-soviet-sphere countries to thrive, while others stumble and generally gain prosperity mostly from being dragged into it via EU membership. Ie specifically Slovakia is / used to be a big car factory for whole EU due to low salaries. Not really somethin…

> No, globalization gave them as a nation a chance and they mostly didn't do any serious effort to use that.

Sure buddy... That's why the country is full of german supermarkets, french banks, german factories, etc. They totally were not accepted in EU just to milk the low ages at all.

Re: Slovakia finds Russian backdoor in traffic speed cameras

#174

Post by Sabinus »

ifwinterco wrote: post #167
Sabinus wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When populations resist wars of conquest from imperial powers, and request aid, it's not "sacrificing" them to send them aid as they requested. That is a pro Russian narrative you have just deployed though.

It’s genuinely a lot more complicated than that. Just look at how officials in positions of power in the the British state reacted, especially people like Ben Wallace. They’re clearly, shamelessly happy that this war is going on. They love it! The fact Ukraine is getting destroyed as a viable nation is neither here nor there, they don’t care at all. To them it’s still 1880 and they’re playing the Great Game again, ne…

If Putin is going continue Russia's imperial politics then I think that the British engaging in their very long habit of opposing conquerers on the Continent should be appreciated by everyone.

The complicated start of the war is that the circumstances of the Soviet breakup created a Ukraine entangled with Russia, and when the Ukrainians wanted to join the EU and attain the associated prosperity and reforms, Russia responded in the ways familiar to it, and to Putin.

Re: Slovakia finds Russian backdoor in traffic speed cameras

#176

Post by dang »

gumby wrote: post #161
tomhow wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You reap what you sow, MFs! Please don't post like this here. We're accustomed to better from you than this.

Thank you for this comment. You’re right.

We're glad to have you back in any case! A gumbyless HN is a sadder HN.

Re: Slovakia finds Russian backdoor in traffic speed cameras

#177

Post by buran77 »

kakacik wrote: post #171
buran77 wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and they mostly didn't do any serious effort to use that. Those countries who were fresh from behind the iron curtain were really dealt a bad hand. They had lived in a "protective bubble", albeit a very unsustainable one and suddenly were thrown in the ocean surrounded by sharks looking for an easy meal. Almost every one of those people found themselves desperate but "inexperienced" and unprepared for the new world…

Well, yes and no. This is valid across 2 decades, not something that happened over 6 months after iron curtain fell. And in some way it continues till today, rule of law is still pretty weak for example and politicians often sidestep laws valid for everybody else. Thats really indefensible and completely on population, not some evil forces outside conspiring to harm. Also, most corruption, or ie sale of factories wor…

> something that happened over 6 months after iron curtain fell

That's how you think it went, huh? Six months and every country and person got over the decades of communism like they never existed? Six month was just enough for the euphoria to wear off.

If reading a book gave you 1 million HN karma everyone would jump on it. Instead it just makes people more educated. Here, gift link [1], check out what did most countries manage to achieve before say June 1990.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of_1989

Re: Slovakia finds Russian backdoor in traffic speed cameras

#178

Post by spiderfarmer »

Blah1113 wrote: post #122
spiderfarmer wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My brother visited some of these countries. He said most people there are oblivious to what happened to their countries. They simply don't care. It also didn't help that everyone he met (agricultural sector) was a day-drinker. That's why they're doomed to repeat it. Again and again.

exactly. they need a foreigner that visits for a weekend to tell them what is happening in their own country. those stupid day-drinking eastern europeans... the arrogance of you and your brother is incredible

My brother just asked about all the monuments and they literally said "don't know, don't care'.

Is that arrogance or ignorance?

Re: Slovakia finds Russian backdoor in traffic speed cameras

#179

Post by PinkSheep »

srdjanr wrote: post #130
PinkSheep wrote: post #124

Over 100 comments, zero mentions that government funds should be spent on devices with auditable open-source firmware. Anyone here? No? Then I'm the first one to say this. SecureBoot is a funny one. It should be signed with the deployer's keys (Slovak), not the manufacturer's. Trusted boot probably wasn't a consideration here, really. Ironically, a custom firmware can now be used thanks to the lack of a digital lock.…

Would you be able to get those devices at all, especially at similar price as those with closed source firmware? R

"at all" -> I would like to believe a government tender to wield more power than just being at the mercy of commercial market offerings.

"similar price to closed source" -> Good argument. But what if the _lower price_ is only lower thanks to a vendor lock-in? Thus, over a long period of time, you don't get a better deal? Furthermore, here an expensive reverse-engineering project had to discover the backdoors? What was its cost? Why can't the government have this work done (new cameras) on a contract basis?

First step: "we want this and that, you may choose the hardware freely, but the project source code will be perpetually licensed to the government to use and extend upon." Second step: "we have this source code from the last contract, we want another 1000 of these traffic cameras with improved specs/features."

The belief, that the market will do anything right, perpetuates this system of outsourcing everything to the market. Though I don't think it can work any other way, because nobody among the government workers wants to bear responsibility and liability. It's much easier to give party B the money and then argue with them based on the paper trails. This is what they've been trained to do after all.

Re: Slovakia finds Russian backdoor in traffic speed cameras

#180

Post by PinkSheep »

like_any_other wrote: post #145
PinkSheep wrote: post #124

Over 100 comments, zero mentions that government funds should be spent on devices with auditable open-source firmware. Anyone here? No? Then I'm the first one to say this. SecureBoot is a funny one. It should be signed with the deployer's keys (Slovak), not the manufacturer's. Trusted boot probably wasn't a consideration here, really. Ironically, a custom firmware can now be used thanks to the lack of a digital lock.…

Maybe you trust the hardware and software and firmware to not be malicious or negligent (currently such assurances are extremely rare [1], so it's hard to overstate what a step up in security just this bare minimum would be), but what if it simply gets hacked by a nation-state level opponent? And there are so many ways to hack it - hardware and software supply chains, interdiction and replacement with compromised par…

Fair. I see, you are against traffic cams in general? One approach is to take away their networking capabilities. Dump the data from them manually, physical access :) like 26 years ago in the year 2000 AD. But the police and agencies will cry about losing real time access (and surveillance) capabilities.

While you raise good arguments against wide deployment, politics will not backtrack. Despite the loopholes, despite the vulnerabilities, despite real life precedents, the juggernaut will keep moving. Much like blackouts or internet outages (Canada) that make payments, digital communication impossible, people will not rely any less on cashless payments etc. That's the blackpill.

The Navy drones article is terrifying. The easier solution is to not have wars at all (lol) then the problem is reduced to only corporate espionage.

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