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1. Embed this notice
   Randahl Fink (randahl@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 05-Nov-2025 21:35:04 JST Randahl Fink

   The most thought provoking article I have read this week:

   A Norwegian bus company wants to know if their buses could be abused by China in the case of war.

   So they drive two buses deep into a limestone mine to isolate them from the internet and forensically investigate how they work.

   In the mine, investigators discover a Chinese kill switch which could destroy all Chinese buses.

   In Denmark, that is 57 percent of the bus fleet.

   Source (Danish):

   https://www.zetland.dk/historie/svNwC3c5-aOPVxA4K-224e5

   • Rich Felker and GreenSkyOverMe (Monika) repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     65dBnoise (65dbnoise@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 05-Nov-2025 21:35:04 JST 65dBnoise

     in reply to

     @randahl
     Isn't this a well known practice? Isn't Tesla doing the same with OTA sw updates, performance monitoring et.c. of the vehicles they manufacture?

     But, I guess, we are all conditioned to see #US #technofascism as more acceptable, for some reason.

   • Embed this notice
     Rich Felker (dalias@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 05-Nov-2025 21:36:22 JST Rich Felker

     in reply to

     @randahl So remove the radio modules from them. They should never have been there to begin with. Vehicles do not need "OTA updates".

   • Embed this notice
     Børge (forteller@tutoteket.no)'s status on Wednesday, 05-Nov-2025 21:55:33 JST Børge

     in reply to

     • slotos

     @slotos @randahl Demanding that publicly bought hardware needs to have free software is a huge part of the solution to this massive problem.

   • Embed this notice
     slotos (slotos@toot.community)'s status on Wednesday, 05-Nov-2025 21:55:34 JST slotos

     in reply to

     @randahl Reminds me of Polish train manufacturer bricking their trains located close to independent repair shops.

     So far, the only people suffering for this decision are the people that helped unbrick the trains in question.

     https://hackaday.com/2023/12/14/polish-train-manufacturer-threatens-hackers-who-unbricked-their-trains/

     This is not a China phenomenon but a greed one. Not to say that Chinese government doesn’t enjoy the results, just that I doubt they had to actively instruct anyone to include these kill switches.

   • Embed this notice
     klegdixal (klegdixal@social.vivaldi.net)'s status on Wednesday, 05-Nov-2025 23:37:26 JST klegdixal

     in reply to

     @randahl https://www.ifixit.com/News/112008/polish-train-maker-is-suing-the-hackers-who-exposed-its-anti-repair-tricks