It just boggles my mind that other industries are cranking out smart devices, heart monitors, cars filled with electronic features, voting machines, etc. without asking, "What happens when someone tries to hack this?"
*It's not our systems are unhackable and foolproof and that we're oh-so-much-better than all those other industries. It's that we consider the possibility of an attack every day. "Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get you."
It's complicated, and that's an understatement at the very least.
Starting with an understanding that the vast majority of manufacturers of such technology have very deep pockets. Meaning they usually have extensive legal resources to sustain endless continuances and basically bleed litigants dry over lawsuits lasting for years short of settling behind closed doors for considerably smaller amounts their insurers can live with.
As disturbing as it may sound, in many cases it's fiscally best for such manufacturers
to observe and comply with only
nominal standards set by government regulators. Where if something goes wrong with a product after the fact, at least you're not likely to get caught knowing about it well ahead of time. Which is the predicament that Johnson & Johnson is in at the moment over their talcum powder. Where they did
supplemental research decades past the introduction of the product to know that there was a problem. Opening the floodgates to lawsuits which may or may not categorically have proven that carcinogens are in their product.
A critical dynamic for pharmaceutical manufacturers as well. Which has exorbitant research and development costs, and shareholders who still expect and demand quick entrances into a crowded and competitive market. Equally with huge amounts of capital, part of their expenditures is endless lobbying to persuade legislators and regulators to "look the other way" at times to get a product to market.
It's always about shareholders equity and protecting corporate assets. The safety and welfare of the public as consumers buying and using such products? Not so much. With a legal system where the more data a manufacturer provides about their product, the more it can hurt them. Where no product is likely to be foolproof, and no manufacturer is prone to zealously looking after the welfare of their customers.
And in the case of computer hacking, it's likely to be an exposure that increases well after a product is brought to the market, whether ready or not.
