Jonathan L. Zittrain, The Case for Kill Switches in Military Weaponry, Sci. Am., Nov. 2014, at 14.
Abstract: In this article the author discusses aspects of smart technology that might have disarmed the insurgent group in Iraq, the Islamic State (ISIS), without bombs or bullets. Topics include remotely disabling weaponry with a kill switch similar to one on the iPhone, which resulted in reduced iPhone thefts, examples of fail-safe mechanisms that could be built using basic signature-and-authentication technologies, and the implications of a failed kill-switch strategy.