With the tech heavy cars of today hacking into the systems of a vehicle and taking over control has become a real problem for some manufacturers. We have seen a Jeep Cherokee that was able to remotely disables, a Corvette that could have the brakes or any other system shut down, and the ability to duplicate the key fob code in order to break into a car. Now we are presented with one of the most tech filled cars on the road today, the Tesla Model S which has been tested and hacked into in order to take over the car and gain full control.
Using a laptop, researchers Kevin Mahaffey and Marc Rogers were able to completely disable a Model S when it was driving at low speeds. They found ways to take over the car and located no less than six loopholes in the software of the car. They were able to shut the car completely down and engage the emergency brake to bring the car to a screeching halt. Even though this required plugging the laptop into the car the door was certainly open for the hack and what’s worse they were able to unload a remote-access Trojan virus into the software of the car.
What is really awful about a Trojan virus or any other type of virus is the fact that they can be set up to open and unleash their programming at a specific time or when someone in the car accesses a specific screen. The Tesla Model S was found to be using and out of date browser that would allow the access needed for the virus and could certainly shut down the car at high speeds if needed.
It may sound very “cloak and dagger” but the fact is if a hacker had the ability to get the key fob code they could have access to the car for long enough to unload the virus without the owner ever knowing it happened. Then all they have to do is sit back and wait as the virus is unpacked with a specific screen or option is chosen. That makes for a very frightening situation indeed and one that no one would want themselves to be on the wrong side of.
Because Tesla understands software and the need for security, they were the right company for the perfect partnership between the team and the company in order to find the flaws. Tesla has already released the fixes for all the loopholes found and was able to do so remotely for owners to download. When the Jeep flaw was discovered owners had to bring their vehicles into the dealership for an upload from a thumb drive.
Have we seen the end of hacking? Not likely and thankfully these hacks so far are being discovered in a carefully controlled environment to help prevent them from being the reason a car is shut down and all occupants are injured in a crash that can be fatal or at the very least have the high cost of new vehicles.
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