2mo ago

AI-powered vending machines that sell bullets could be hacked, says a cybersecurity expert

www.businessinsider.com AI-powered vending machines that sell bullets could be hacked, says a cybersecurity expert

The US has rolled out AI-powered vending machines that dispense bullets to anyone who has a valid ID. An expert says they can be hacked.

Oh my. https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/Vending_Machines_(Rapture)

90 comments

Bullet vending machines? Just in case you find yourself running low on bullets while out and about in the city? "Damn it. They're out of Snickers bars so I guess I'll just settle for some 9mm."
- 'murica, fuck yeah!
- For when you run out of 5.56 before third period biology
  
  Your going to have to disect the lab rat live, fresh from the dumpster.
- An entire country of fucking cowards 😂
  
  Hey hey hey, half cowards.
- The world would be better off if certain people ate a bullet. But those people usually are not in the vending machine target demographic.
- The morning riot used 2 more mags than usual.
- Same reason as any other vending machine, impulse buys.
  
  Ammo should never be an impulse buy, and I say this as a strong proponent of the 2A.

Why does a vending machine even have AI in the first place?
- Because it is currently the most advanced way to pretend you are doing age verification when really you aren't that is available on the market.
  
  How about this: scan your state issued ID. My license has a barcode, and bars already scan it, so it's a solved problem, no AI needed. The process should essentially be:
  scan license
  snap picture of face
  send to police for lookup - needed to verify you're not a felon or whatever, there's more to it than just age verification
  accept or reject transaction
  The only AI that needs to exist would be at the local precinct, and used for related ID verification checks.
  Or how about this, instead of all this BS, put the vending machine in the store and have a clerk check your ID like they normally would.
- Things like this are literally just so that there is a test case to make it up to the Supreme Court. They do something ridiculous that obviously violates the intent of the law but mostly stays inside the letter of the law, in hopes that the Supreme Court will take it up and overturn the law. So, yes, the fact that the vending machine can technically sell bullets to minors is a feature, not a bug. Why is their endgame getting rid of age restrictions for firearms and ammunition? You’d have to ask the death cult themselves about that one.
- Because AI is racist and the US never developed gun laws until a bunch of black folks in California decided to exercise their rights

Why in the everliving fuck is that a thing anyone needed? Just go to a gun store and show your ID if needed for fucks sake
We don't need a new way to buy bullets, we certainly don't need a vending machine for them, and if we're getting one anyway it certainly doesn't need AI, who the fuck dreamt this up and thought it was a good idea??
- Amoral greedy hateful conservatives.
  But I repeat myself.
- As a big proponent of the 2A and generally in favor of less restrictions, I also don't see the point. Here are the times I'd need ammo:
  at the range - just call someone over and they'll deliver it to you
  before going hunting - I'm heading to the hunting store anyway, I'll just pick some up there
  a trip to BLM land to go shooting - pull from stash and refresh it w/ an online order
  when picking up a new gun - gun stores tend to have ammo
  Vending machines tend to be in more urban environments, and if I'm there, I either already have ammo (if I'm carrying concealed) or I'm not carrying a firearm anyway. In the rare situation where I'm carrying a firearm w/o ammo (why?), I'm not going to stop and load my gun in public, so why go to the vending machine?
  I don't see any good reason for this to exist. Either order online or pick up along w/ other stuff at the gun store. A vending machine is going to be out of whatever caliber I want anyway and they'll probably get restocked rarely, so even a mild convenience would likely end up being an inconvenience. So even if it was safe, it's not solving any problems.
  As someone w/ young kids, I definitely don't want to make access to ammo easier for casual gun owners. Gun enthusiasts already know where to get ammo, this is just going to be a target for bored kids.
  
  BLM land?
- Who cares? You can buy ammo in plenty of places and most of us buy it online for the deep discount.
  The AI is for age verification or this idea would never fly.

- "I've got bullets with your name on them! Wait that didn't come out right..."
- Is this a borderlands 3 screenshot? Or 2?
  
  I think it's from the Torgue DLC in BL2

Ok, how about no bullet vending machines because that’s obviously dystopian and if you desperately need bullets and can’t wait to get to a gun shop you have bigger issues
- Can't wait for single use, plastic, vending machine guns ala Cyberpunk 2077.
  
  Does it print ir inject them itself to replenish its own stock?
  
  Will they market them to kids like cigarettes?
- Surge pricing.

I mean, every vending machine can be hacked. Paywalled, so I can't see if there's something unique about this vending machine, but if it's got any sort of onboard computer (which pretty much every vending machine does), then it can be accessed, and it can be bypassed.
- These are supposed to have AI facial recognition for matching to government issued IDs, which just sounds like a huge attack surface (or even unintentional bugs).
- You can also just vandalize the vending machine and steal the ammo, which would probably be a lot easier than hacking it, or even vandalizing a gun store.
  
  Lock picking it open is probably the best choice, or just dragging it away with a stolen Kia.

"It is easy for an underaged purchaser to go online and click they are of legal age, purchase ammunition, and have it shipped to their house," added Magers
WTF America, do amo marketplaces really have the same security standards as p**nhub ?
- Don't be silly. Porn sites could permanently scar kids for life when they see a nipple, obviously they need much better protection than something benign like shipping explosives to their house /s
- WTF America, do amo marketplaces really have the same security standards as pornhub ?
  FTFY
- Don't you need to provide an ID to verify your age for porn in some states?
  
  Yup, in my state (Utah), there's no required legal process to carry a firearm concealed, and you can buy a firearm w/o any required checks from a private seller (not ammo though), but you need to prove your age to access porn. That seems a little... odd.
  
  About to be all states, under his eye.
  
  Idk, but in EU I think this wouldn't be a legitimate use of such sensitive data.

Hey everyone, lockpickinglawer here. Today I'm going to show you how you can open one ammo vending machine with another ammo vending machine.
- That's more McNally's style tbh
- Alternate #1: your pickup truck's steel bumper.
  Alternate #2: your cousins Oxy-acc torch
  Alternate #3: bricks. Lots of bricks.

Actual ammo vending machines. That can be tampered with. Great.
Could we not Torment Nexus the rest of Bioshock, please?
- From what i can see here, the USA are currently socially regressing from Bioshock 1 to Bioshock Infinite.

America is the stupidest damn place that has ever existed
- To be fair, England also exists
  
  I find it far less disturbing.
  Yeah looking at the history it's very problematic, but England has always retained a some sense of.. morality. Fuck monarchy and all, but I find it very challenging to imagine the UK going as insane as the US is currently.
  Like when you read shit like this, I know who I favour historically:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bamber_Bridge
  
  At least we didn’t even consider bullet vending machines or drive through liquor stores.
  
  England still claims 10% of American stupidity as debt service.

Any vending machine can be hacked. We used to get free sodas from one twenty years ago.

Humanity is fucked when you can buy death from a vending machine. Where are the vodka vending machines? No? Just things to kill people.
- Did you know you can just buy a vending machine and put whatever you want in it? Vodka, blunts, heroin, Irn Bru, anything.
  
  Where can I buy a vending machine? Is there a vending machine selling vending machines I can visit?
- Cigarette vending machines used to be quite common. Even today, there are some alcohol vending machines in controlled areas (some fancy hotels have 24/7 vending machines stocked with a particular brand of champagne bottles).
  
  A hotel I stayed at recently had a vending machine filled with beer and wine. It just worked with the honour system, no ID check or whatever.
  It was fairly nicely priced too, especially for a hotel.
- Humanity or America?
  
  America or USA?
  
  Humanity. People outside the USA love to copy the USA because they think it's cool. Yet they copy the uncool things.
- Vodka kills a lot of people

It's like society wants to be all the fucking worst parts of Mega Man Battle Network

Won't anyone think of the gun owners that have social anxiety that can't bear to look the guy at the gun shop in the eye and don't have the time to wait for an online order because IVE GOT TO DO IT TONIGHT IF I DON'T DO IT TONIGHT ITS NEVER GONNA HAPPEN
/s

Does OSM have any bullet vending machines?
Edit it has two:
https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/12272507646
https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/12118923148
- Thats genuinely amazing. The OSM community doesn't care if what you built is dumb, they just care if it's on the map
  Props to them
- Nice, that first one is right next to a bank too. So if you show up to rob the place, but forgot your ammo, then you're set!

vending machine that sells bullets
Sometimes I truly do love the absurdity of my country

All you need is a frequency modulator and to send four pulses of a specific amplitude at the right time in sequence, and then all the bullet costs are discounted.
"¡Muchos gracias, señor!"