Metacompiler – A Novel by Michael Barr
metacompiler.me
metacompiler.me
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.