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> John Deere is broadly understood to only make tractors. It is not a tractor that is jailbroken here, though; not even a computer built into a tractor. It is

> John Deere is broadly understood to only make tractors. It is not a tractor that is jailbroken here, though; not even a computer built into a tractor. It is their "Universal Display" that has been jailbroken, which is a computer that is sold as an independent unit. Often you will move these displays between machines and, in some cases, even use them in tractors built by other manufacturers or even away from farm machines entirely. For all intents and purposes it is a different category of product. > You wouldn't refer to an iphone as an Apple because Apple is generally known to produce several different categories of products. I expect the real difference here is that the iPhone is a household name. Most know what an iPhone is and are able to recognize one when they see it. It would absolutely get called "an Apple" if that is all that was known about the device. In fact, I know some not-so-technically-engaged people who do call their iPhone "an Apple", reflecting the branding visible on their device. Apple removed the iPhone logo several iterations ago. How many are familiar with the 4640 Universal Display? Approaching nobody, I expect. Especially when at a tech conference and not a farm show. The device is branded with "John Deere" and no other visible markings, so it is understandable that it was called that in the absence of additional information.

naikrovek 4y ago
> so it is understandable that it was called that in the absence of additional information no it isn't; the attackers have that information and could have looked it up if they didn't. "John Deere" is three things: a company, a brand/trademark of that company, and a dead person whom the company and trademark are named after. none of those things can be jailbroken. all I am trying to say is that "jailbroken a John Deere" makes zero sense on its own, and doesn't convey any useful information on its own. THATS ALL IM TRYING TO SAY
- randomdata 4y ago
  > the attackers have that information and could have looked it up if they didn't. The Tweet was clearly not written by the attacker... The attacker did reply with the exact model of the device later on. Trying to figure out what you're looking at while live-tweeting a presentation isn't exactly easy. Us farmers might have recognized it right away, but the CEO of iFixit is decidedly not a farmer. These are not common devices outside of niche uses. If you want detailed information, maybe don't turn to something that is being reported as it is happening through a short messaging service? > all I am trying to say is that "jailbroken a John Deere" makes zero sense on its own, and doesn't convey any useful information on its own. It might not make sense on its own, but it wasn't stated on its own. It accompanied photos of the device in question. You know full well from context what "John Deere" means in this case; at very least you can discern it is some kind of computing device made by John Deere. The "Turns out our entire food system is built on outdated, unpatched Linux and Windows CE hardware with LTE modems." part of the Tweet was far more ridiculous.

naikrovek 4y ago

> so it is understandable that it was called that in the absence of additional information no it isn't; the attackers have that information and could have looked it up if they didn't. "John Deere" is three things: a company, a brand/trademark of that company, and a dead person whom the company and trademark are named after. none of those things can be jailbroken. all I am trying to say is that "jailbroken a John Deere" makes zero sense on its own, and doesn't convey any useful information on its own. THATS ALL IM TRYING TO SAY

randomdata 4y ago
> the attackers have that information and could have looked it up if they didn't. The Tweet was clearly not written by the attacker... The attacker did reply with the exact model of the device later on. Trying to figure out what you're looking at while live-tweeting a presentation isn't exactly easy. Us farmers might have recognized it right away, but the CEO of iFixit is decidedly not a farmer. These are not common devices outside of niche uses. If you want detailed information, maybe don't turn to something that is being reported as it is happening through a short messaging service? > all I am trying to say is that "jailbroken a John Deere" makes zero sense on its own, and doesn't convey any useful information on its own. It might not make sense on its own, but it wasn't stated on its own. It accompanied photos of the device in question. You know full well from context what "John Deere" means in this case; at very least you can discern it is some kind of computing device made by John Deere. The "Turns out our entire food system is built on outdated, unpatched Linux and Windows CE hardware with LTE modems." part of the Tweet was far more ridiculous.