[HN Gopher] Metacompiler - A Novel by Michael Barr
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Metacompiler - A Novel by Michael Barr
        
       Author : alsko
       Score  : 6 points
       Date   : 2026-03-17 20:09 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (metacompiler.me)
 (TXT) w3m dump (metacompiler.me)
        
       | alsko wrote:
       | From Michael's newsletter:
       | 
       | For years after testifying as the lead software expert in a
       | Toyota unintended acceleration trial, I kept returning to the
       | idea of writing a sci-fi novel about the mass weaponization of
       | embedded systems:
       | 
       | What if the possible compiler supply chain attack that Ken
       | Thompson alerted us to has already been deployed?
       | 
       | The result is METACOMPILER, a plausibly true techno-thriller
       | built on ideas from real projects I've consulted on and testified
       | about as well as common unpatched vulnerabilities. The computer
       | science is legit. The vulnerabilities are real. Only the
       | characters are fictional.
       | 
       | The protagonist is a deaf-blind computer scientist whose neural
       | implants let her perceive the electromagnetic spectrum. Following
       | the death of her boyfriend in a car that was remotely commanded
       | to accelerate, Kali uncovers a compiler-level backdoor in 11
       | billion processors, each carrying three hidden commands: INFO,
       | PEEK, and POKE.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2026-03-17 23:01 UTC)