An article at Futurism suggests that we can expect all of the above, and then some.
In a new report, pan-European police agency Europol’s Innovation Lab has imagined a not-so-distant future in which criminals could hijack autonomous vehicles, drones, and humanoid robots to sow chaos — and how law enforcement will have to step up as a result.
By the year 2035, the report warns that law enforcement departments will need to deal with “crimes by robots, such as drones” that are “used as tools in theft,” not to mention “automated vehicles causing pedestrian injuries” — an eventuality we’ve already seen in numerous cases.
Humanoid robots could also complicate matters “as they could be designed to interact with humans in a more sophisticated way, potentially making it more difficult to distinguish between intentional and accidental behavior,” the report notes.
Worse yet, robots designed to assist in healthcare settings could be hacked into, leaving patients vulnerable to attackers.
Rounding out the cyberpunk dystopia vibes, according to the report, is that all the folks who were put out of a job as a result of automation may be motivated to commit “cybercrime, vandalism, and organized theft, often targeted at robotic infrastructure” just to survive.
Law enforcement needs to evolve rapidly to keep up, Europol says. For instance, a police officer may need to determine whether a driverless car that was involved in an accident did so after receiving deliberate instruction as part of a cyberattack, or whether it was a simple malfunction.
. . .
Advanced weapons have already “spilled over into organised crime and terrorism, impacting law enforcement,” the report reads. “There has also been a reported increase in the use of drones around European infrastructure, and there are examples of drone pilots selling their services online, transforming this criminal process from crime-as-a-service to crime-at-a-distance.”
In short, it’s a troubling vision of the future of crime, facilitated by rapidly evolving technologies.
There's more at the link. The original Europol report may be found here.
This is hardly surprising, of course. Criminals have always used every technology ever invented, as soon as it's come along (and often before law enforcement has thought about its criminal misuse, or considered countermeasures). Today, however, the threat is greater than ever before. There must be enough well-trained and -experienced drone operators in Ukraine and Russia alone that every criminal organization in Europe could hire a troop of them. As that knowledge and experience proliferates, particularly in South American drug cartels (who are already using drones as offensive weapons against each other and against law enforcement, and using them to fly drugs and other contraband across the US border), we're sure to see police forces and other agencies setting up their own specialist units to tackle the problem.
I remain equally concerned about the use of drones by "ordinary" criminals to survey streets and neighborhoods, looking for targets of opportunity. Examples:
- There are a number of gangs stealing cars to order. If you want a specific make and model of car, you let the gang know, and they'll find one to steal for you. A number of high-end autos have been exported in response to such interest. A drone-equipped operator can fly over neighborhoods all across a city to find the vehicle(s) he wants, and choose those in the most vulnerable areas or homes for further attention.
- If a given suburb is popular with wealthier people, gangs can fly drones over it to check on security systems and precautions they use. If they find a more vulnerable home, they can plot ways to approach the house under cover of garden vegetation, or plan rapid egress routes after they've broken in. They can also monitor the frequency and routes taken by security patrols.
- Left-wing and progressive groups are doxxing the names and addresses of ICE agents and other law enforcement personnel. If you happen to live near one, you and your family might find yourselves caught up in (potentially violent) demonstrations against that address and those living there.
- Kidnapping and human trafficking are in the news almost every day. Using drones, the perpetrators can look for likely victims and observe them for long periods, to establish their patterns of life and determine when they will be most vulnerable to attack.
Those are just a few of the ways in which criminals can benefit from technology, or we can suffer because they have access to it.
Peter
No comments:
Post a Comment