What do Uber, Volkswagen and Zenefits have in common? They all used hidden code to bypass the law.

“No ethically trained software developer would ever agree to write a DestroyBaghdad procedure. Elementary professional ethics would instead require him to write a DestroyCity procedure, to which Baghdad would be set as a parameter ”- Nathaniel Borenstein.

Uber used software for illegal work in hundreds of cities
Two hours ago, “The New York Times” told the world a grand story about the scandal associated with Uber. Since 2013, Uber has used a sophisticated tool to deceive local law enforcement.

The program is called Greyball, and it works as follows:

1. In cities where Uber is illegal - and there are still a lot of such cities - Greyball helps to identify undercover police officers who are trying to figure out drivers working through Uber by calling a taxi and bankrupt them by confiscating their vehicles.
2. When these policemen open the Uber application and try to book a trip, they see imaginary cars driving around the city on the map, but they are unable to call them.
3. Since the cars that appear in the application do not really exist, the police cannot force the driver to pick up their employees, and, accordingly, to apply any sanctions to him.

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As a result, Uber ignores the fact that the city has not yet approved joint travel, and just starts its work.

Just be aware of this. Uber, thanks to its excellent software, is essentially above the law.

The method of identifying such passengers is in fact simply ingenious. On the basis of the credit cards used by the police, Uber can cross-check commercial databases, comparing them with the databases of government officials, and identify potential police officers, and then “ban” them from using the Uber service.

The police never manage to call Uber taxis, but, as they believe, they just ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is how Uber turned this scam on, year after year, until several developers, suffering from remorse, didn’t give up on everyone.

Zenefits used software to fraudulently certify hundreds of insurance agents.



Zenefits is a company that provides software to enterprises and then tries to buy insurance packages for them.

In 2016, it turned out that the company's CEO, Parker Conrad, developed a tool that helped Zenefits agents cheat during the licensing process.
Using a browser extension developed on their request, Zenefits agents were able to skip most of the 52-hour online training course required by law.
Instead of paying for the work of new employees who would have spent a week and a half on passing this course, they allowed them to start selling insurance much earlier.

Conrad resigned shortly after this scheme came to light. The scandal cost the company half its price ($ 2.5 billion), and hundreds of people lost their jobs.

Volkswagen used software to sell 10 million ultra-polluting cars



From 2008 to 2015, Volkswagen produced more than 10 million vehicles on “environmentally friendly diesel fuel.” Many engineers were amazed that diesel engines can produce less harmful emissions than standard unleaded cars, and still have such a large mileage. Actually, their doubts were justified in 2014, when researchers discovered that these cars used a deceptive device like a “controller-simulator”.

Volkswagen executives ordered software engineers to figure out how to trick the Environmental Protection Agency during tests to determine the level of harmful emissions. They knew that regulators would use certain parameters during these tests. Therefore, they wrote an algorithm, according to which, if these parameters are selected, the engine starts working in a special mode.

This fraudulent mechanism hid the fact that Volkswagen engines running on clean diesel fuel actually produced far more nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions than allowed by law. 40 times the federal limit.

And this substance causes lung cancer. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimate that these emissions will eventually lead to the premature death of 60 people. And it is only in America.

Yes, that's right - the software that these developers wrote kills innocent people.

Volkswagen eventually paid a $ 14.7 billion fine to resolve the conflict in 2016.
But this situation will remain one of the greatest environmental tragedies of our time - all this was caused by the activities of several developers who simply executed orders.

“With great strength comes great responsibility” - Uncle Ben.

The world is increasingly dependent on code created by developers. Thus, developers are quickly becoming one of the most influential people in the world.
Coding is a superpower. With it, you can subordinate reality to your will. You can make the world a better place. Or you can destroy it.

You can deceive regulators, police, judges. You can fool the public. And you can do it endlessly, they won't even catch you.

But it's not right.

Developers have tremendous power. And they must use it with great responsibility.

If you are a developer or are working to become one of them, I strongly recommend that you read Bill Savor ’s article “Code for which I am still ashamed.”

And if someone asks you to write something clearly illegal - or categorically harmful - contact the media. Developers in all three cases could do it, and save the world from much suffering.

Remember: only YOU can prevent malicious code.