Direction for the following 4 (four) items: Read the following four passages and answer the items (31-34) that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passages only.

Computers increasingly deal not just with abstract data like credit card details and databases, but also with the real world of physical objects and vulnerable human bodies. A modern car is a computer on wheels; an aeroplane is a computer on wings. The arrival of the “Internet of Things” will see computers baked into everything from road signs and MRI scanners to prosthetics and insulin pumps. There is little evidence that these gadgets will be any more trustworthy than their desktop counterparts. Hackers have already proved that they can take remote control of internet connected cars and pacemakers.

Which one of the following statements best reflects the most critical inference that can be made from the passage given above?

Correct Answer: Computers are not completely safe.

Step-by-Step Explanation / Logical Reasoning:

1. Analyzing the Passage:

The passage highlights that modern computers are not limited to abstract data (like credit cards and databases); they are integrated into physical objects and critical health devices such as cars, aeroplanes, MRI scanners, prosthetics, and insulin pumps.

It explicitly notes: "There is little evidence that these gadgets will be any more trustworthy than their desktop counterparts. Hackers have already proved that they can take remote control of internet connected cars and pacemakers."

2. Evaluating the Options:

• Computers are not completely safe: This directly aligns with the main point of the passage. Since hackers can remotely take control of critical devices (like cars and pacemakers), computers and computer-integrated devices cannot be considered fully safe or trustworthy.

• Companies producing the software do not take cyber security seriously: The passage does not discuss the attitudes or efforts of software companies.

• Stringent data security laws are needed: While this might be a logical policy suggestion, the passage does not mention data security laws or legal frameworks.

• The present trend of communication technologies will affect our lives in future: This is a very broad statement, whereas the specific focus and critical inference of the passage is on the lack of safety/trustworthiness in computer-integrated devices.

Conclusion:

The most critical inference that directly follows from the evidence given in the text is that Computers are not completely safe.