“And everyone is aware this could happen.” “To take control of a vehicle’s direction and speed: This is what everyone in the industry is worried about,” said Ami Dotan, Karamba’s chief executive. And a quick internet search will reveal scores of successful but so far benign hacks against many of the world’s major automotive brands. Karamba has been working with a South American trucking company whose fleet was hacked to hide it from its tracking system, allowing thieves to steal its cargo unnoticed. The problem goes beyond demonstration intrusions. Even altering a street sign in ways imperceptible to the eye can trick a car into misperceiving a stop sign as a speed limit sign.Īnd last year, Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit group in Santa Monica, Calif., sent a “!Hacked!” message to the screen of a Tesla. A hacked electric vehicle could shut down the power grid once the car was charging. Nefarious code inserted into one of a vehicle’s electronic control units could cause it to suddenly speed up, shut down or lose braking power.Ī fleet of cars could be commandeered and made to steer erratically, potentially causing a major accident. A hacker could steal a driver’s personal data or eavesdrop on phone conversations. Today, the effects of a breach could range from mildly annoying to catastrophic. Jeep’s parent company, FCA, recalled 1.4 million vehicles to fix the vulnerability.

The best-known vehicle takeover occurred in 2015 when security researchers on a laptop 10 miles away caused a Jeep Cherokee to lose power, change its radio station, turn on the windshield wipers and blast cold air. In under three days, 25,000 breach attempts were made, and one succeeded. In 2019, the automotive cybersecurity company Karamba Security posted a fake vehicle electronic control unit online.

Hackers seemingly can’t wait for the opportunity to commandeer vehicles. And that’s keeping many in the auto industry awake at night, worried about how they can stay one step (or two or three) ahead of those who could eventually play havoc with the world’s private transport systems. While consumers may love the features, hackers may love them even more. Soon they’ll speak to one another, alert you to sales as you pass your favorite stores, and one day they’ll even drive themselves. Today’s cars and trucks, with an internet link, can report the weather, pay for gas, find a parking spot, route around traffic jams and tune in to radio stations from around the world.

In your garage or driveway sits a machine with more lines of code than a modern passenger jet.

The division pc hacking march 2016