News from the category “doom
launched on X” have not been surprising for a long time. Modern digital devices are equipped with such stuffing that for them it is not a problem. Therefore, enthusiasts themselves set limits for themselves and try to solve the problem on small LEGO parts or even do recursion – play doom in
doom. However, it turned out that the most famous shooter can be not only a symbol of the developer’s technical skills, but even a banner of freedom!
In Las Vegas, at the DefCon 22 conference, a hacked John Deere tractor computer was presented. Hacker Sick Codes demonstrated a jailbreak and a themed agricultural mod running on the device for doom. Thus, the cracker wanted to draw the attention of manufacturers to the fact that their software is outdated – it cannot be modified and repaired.
We want farmers to be able to repair their equipment when it breaks down, so they can decide for themselves what software they need on their machines. <…> Free the tractors!
Sick Codes
Back in 2021, the hacker reported at the exhibition about the problems of tractor software – it is quite easy to hack. Sick Codes was also concerned about food security, because attackers could gain control over the equipment, as was the case, for example, with one of the meat processing companies in the United States.
Farmers prefer old machinery simply because they want reliability. They don’t want anything to go wrong at the most important time of the year, the harvest season.
Sick Codes
After the report, the company John Deere
stated that it will update its software and expand access to its repair. The hacker is curious what the company will do after the hack. In his opinion, without a complete update of the equipment, the manufacturer will not be able to get rid of existing vulnerabilities.
