4 ms·

I don't know if it was HP, but my favorite malicious printer was one that scanned documents and then randomly changed numbers in them. This was the byproduct of

I don't know if it was HP, but my favorite malicious printer was one that scanned documents and then randomly changed numbers in them. This was the byproduct of an overly clever compression algorithm saving bytes by replacing parts of the image with other similar parts. God only knows how much important information was corrupted by that 'feature'.

gpvos 10y ago
It was Xerox. http://www.dkriesel.com/en/blog/2013/0802_xerox-workcentres_are_switching_written_numbers_when_scanning http://www.dkriesel.com/en/blog/2013/0802_xerox-workcentres_...
deleted 10y ago
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ethbro 10y ago
You know, you could probably cripple a society over a few years with that bug (if the probability were tweaked right).
- harry8 10y ago
  Excel is pervasive. If you consider every single spreadsheet used for financial analysis and then used to allocate resources has material bugs in it, you'll be so close to the truth as makes no difference. Has it crippled society?
  - dr_zoidberg 10y ago
    Hmmmm... I remember about an Excel macro-virus that would multiply numbers (and adjust the format to hide it) in data cells by small random number, between 0.99 and 1.01 slowly over time. By the time you realized what was going on, your data was completely gone. Can't remember the name though.
  - ethbro 10y ago
    I think material but well known bugs are probably less dangerous because they're deterministic. The true insidiousness of a random mutagen exploit is the fact that you can't pin in down. Hell, you could even specifically code it to be resistant to reproduction attempts. ;)
    - harry8 10y ago
      no no no. Not the many formula implementation bugs. I mean every survey of financial models done in excel has material error in their conclusions. Regardless of known bugs in excel that microsoft won't fix. I mean that merger you just read about where the financial model was done with excel - it has material bugs in it. Material by the GAAP accounting & attest definition. > +/-5% of profit. +/- 10% of total assets. It's quite something...
jlgaddis 10y ago
I'm not sure if it's still possible or not but at one time you could "bounce" port scans and such off of networked HP printers (due to an "IP ID" bug in their IP stack, IIRC). I did this to a very security-conscious co-worker who freaked out when he noticed his workstation being "attacked" by a printer in a computer lab.

gpvos 10y ago

It was Xerox. http://www.dkriesel.com/en/blog/2013/0802_xerox-workcentres_are_switching_written_numbers_when_scanning http://www.dkriesel.com/en/blog/2013/0802_xerox-workcentres_...

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

ethbro 10y ago

You know, you could probably cripple a society over a few years with that bug (if the probability were tweaked right).

harry8 10y ago
Excel is pervasive. If you consider every single spreadsheet used for financial analysis and then used to allocate resources has material bugs in it, you'll be so close to the truth as makes no difference. Has it crippled society?
- dr_zoidberg 10y ago
  Hmmmm... I remember about an Excel macro-virus that would multiply numbers (and adjust the format to hide it) in data cells by small random number, between 0.99 and 1.01 slowly over time. By the time you realized what was going on, your data was completely gone. Can't remember the name though.
- ethbro 10y ago
  I think material but well known bugs are probably less dangerous because they're deterministic. The true insidiousness of a random mutagen exploit is the fact that you can't pin in down. Hell, you could even specifically code it to be resistant to reproduction attempts. ;)
  - harry8 10y ago
    no no no. Not the many formula implementation bugs. I mean every survey of financial models done in excel has material error in their conclusions. Regardless of known bugs in excel that microsoft won't fix. I mean that merger you just read about where the financial model was done with excel - it has material bugs in it. Material by the GAAP accounting & attest definition. > +/-5% of profit. +/- 10% of total assets. It's quite something...

jlgaddis 10y ago

I'm not sure if it's still possible or not but at one time you could "bounce" port scans and such off of networked HP printers (due to an "IP ID" bug in their IP stack, IIRC). I did this to a very security-conscious co-worker who freaked out when he noticed his workstation being "attacked" by a printer in a computer lab.