When you put a computer with Wifi capabilities on a sniper rifle, anybody can become a marksman even even using a tablet or smartphone. But with such wireless network capability a device can always invite some uninvited guests sniffing around and some would be up to no good. That's what the story at Wired.com is all about.

Many of us by now know about the capabilities of the TrackingPoint Smart Rifle System (as a company though, that's another story). Its XactSystem technology would enable anyone to be a precision shooter with just a few instructions. The shooter selects the target by pressing a button on the rifle, starting the quick process of ballistic computation, and upon pulling the trigger, the rifle selects the moment to fire which is when it determines that it's lined-up with the target perfectly. The result is always astonishing.

With its ShotView Streaming App, TrackingPoint can then be connected to mobile devices such as tablets, smartphones and even the Google Glass. This enables the shooter to hide and still be able to point and shoot the rifle with great accuracy.

According to Wired.com, two security researchers will be representing their research at the Black Hat security conference in about two weeks' time. Runa Sandvik and Michael Auger were able to develop a hacking exploit that can allow the attacker some control of the rifle. The attacker can connect to the rifle with Wifi and exploit the vulnerabilities of the software.

Once the attacker gains access to the TrackingPoint remotely, he/she can then make the rifle miss the target, disable the scope or prevent the gun from firing. The only thing that the hacker can't do, and which will be a relief, is to pull the trigger as it has to be done manually. The hacker can totally disable the system, turning a very expensive smart rifle into a very expensive paperweight. The rifle owner will just have to go back to doing normal way of manual aiming and shooting.

The researchers have been trying to contact the company but never got any response until they were connected by Wired. The TrackingPoint founder, John Mchale, says that they are working on patching up vulnerabilities and once they are ready, will be sending out the patch via USB sticks to their customers. Given the financial problems of the company, Sandvik and Auger decided not to release the full code of the exploit due to their concerns that the company doesn’t have enough manpower to work on securing TrackingPoint.

Now would you be concerned also with the latest  in military hardware that rely on networking to fight effectively given this story? I would.