Google develops self-driving cars + Microsoft: We should block infected PCs from the Internet

After a long night of drinking, you walk to your car, turn on the ignition, and drive home.

Only you aren’t doing the driving, your car is. That’s Google’s vision of the future and if their testing is any indication, that future is closer than you may think.

According to the report, Google has seven test cars that have driven a total of 140,000 miles in traffic with only minimal human interaction. During the public showcase, the car started at Google’s campus, merged onto Highway 101, then exited the highway, stopping at lights and stop signs while announcing its intentions to the people in the vehicle.

If this technology can be mass produced, fuel consumption will be drastically reduced, roads will be better utilized, and traffic accidents could be all but eliminated. All of this assumes that the software works as advertised, but considering we already have cars that can park themselves, why should this be much different?

Before these cars can be mass produced, nearly every driving law on the books will have to be examined and modified as they all assume a responsible person is behind the wheel. If there’s an accident in a robotic car, who is at fault? Given the fact that you can sue a company over bad walking directions, you can be sure that both the software and auto companies would be on the receiving end of many lawsuits.

The question is which do you trust more, a computerized car with potential software errors, or a person who may be intoxicated, tired, or simply not paying attention?

===========================================================

Microsoft: We should block infected PCs from the Internet



In its effort to tackle botnets, Microsoft has offered a potential solution that would prevent botnet-infected computers from accessing the Internet.Redmond's Scott Charney described a "global collective defense" and compared his vision to modern public health in a paper titled "Collective Defense: Applying Public Health Models to the Internet" .Charney said that while traditional protection mechanisms such as firewalls, antiviruses and automatic software updates can reduce risk, they're not enough.

"Despite our best efforts, many consumer computers are host to malware or are part of a botnet," he said. He suggests that infected machines could have a "health certificate" to show whether it has security software and the latest patches. Systems lacking the proper software would be forced to update, while infected computers could be blocked from the Internet entirely.

"Just as when an individual who is not vaccinated puts others' health at risk, computers that are not protected or have been compromised with a bot put others at risk and pose a greater threat to society," Charney said. "We need to improve and maintain the health of consumer devices connected to the Internet in order to avoid greater societal risk."

Quarantining PCs may require government intervention, according to the Microsoft executive. "Voluntary behavior and market forces are the preferred means to drive action but if those means fail, then governments should ensure these concepts are advanced," he said. Such measures are unlikely to be accepted by Internet privacy advocates, however.

Analysts are already questioning the effectiveness of a quarantine-based system. Joe Stewart of SeecureWorks adequately notes that if the person behind a botnet isn't dealt with, they'll just find a way to continue operating. "Technical solutions just haven't worked," Stewart said. How effective do you think Charney's proposed solution would be?