iPhone-Sized Device Can Hack A Car?

[Plutonic Panda]

It was only a matter of time, but nearly everything is becoming "hackable". Computers definitely come with downsides.

Auto makers have long downplayed the threat of hacker attacks on their cars and trucks, arguing that their vehicles’ increasingly-networked systems are protected from rogue wireless intrusion. Now two researchers plan to show that a few minutes alone with a car and a tiny, cheap device can give digital saboteurs all the wireless control they need.

At the Black Hat Asia security conference in Singapore next month, Spanish security researchers Javier Vazquez-Vidal and Alberto Garcia Illera plan to present a small gadget they built for less than $20 that can be physically connected to a car’s internal network to inject malicious commands affecting everything from its windows and headlights to its steering and brakes. Their tool, which is about three-quarters the size of an iPhone, attaches via four wires to the Controller Area Network or CAN bus of a vehicle, drawing power from the car’s electrical system and waiting to relay wireless commands sent remotely from an attacker’s computer. They call their creation the CAN Hacking Tool, or CHT.

“It can take five minutes or less to hook it up and then walk away,” says Vazquez Vidal, who works as a automobile IT security consultant in Germany. “We could wait one minute or one year, and then trigger it to do whatever we have programmed it to do.”

Read more here: This iPhone-Sized Device Can Hack A Car, Researchers Plan To Demonstrate - Forbes

[ljbab728]

That is not surprising. I recently installed a device in my car from Allstate to reduce my premium. I can go on their website and it shows what time of day I drive, how fast, and how many miles along with other data.

[Plutonic Panda]

Yeah, Progressive has something like that to. I'm guessing they have people that monitor your driving habits(making sure your following speed limits, using turn signals etc.) or perhaps they just automatically give you a discount...

[ljbab728]

Yeah, Progressive has something like that to. I'm guessing they have people that monitor your driving habits(making sure your following speed limits, using turn signals etc.) or perhaps they just automatically give you a discount...

No, it's completely computerized and monitored by the device I installed. It tells me what discount to expect based on how I drive.

[Plutonic Panda]

Ah, so it is all predetermined. So if you drive unsafe, I wonder if your rates would go up... surely they would, but anyone who plans to do that, would not install that device.

[ljbab728]

Ah, so it is all predetermined. So if you drive unsafe, I wonder if your rates would go up... surely they would, but anyone who plans to do that, would not install that device.

Well, you probably wouldn't want one, plupan. One restriction is that you can't drive over 80 at any time. LOL

[Plutonic Panda]

Well, you probably wouldn't want one, plupan. One restriction is that you can't drive over 80 at any time. LOL

Oh man, you can't go over 80!? That just wouldn't fit the bill for me lol j/k

Seriously though, that'd suck for those people in Austin that live along highway 130(speed limit:85MPH)

[ljbab728]

Oh man, you can't go over 80!? That just wouldn't fit the bill for me lol j/k

Seriously though, that'd suck for those people in Austin that live along highway 130(speed limit:85MPH)

Well actually you can drive that fast but you won't save any money. The only thing remotely negative I get is "hard breaking" and that's not always something easy to control.

[BBatesokc]

Don't see anything surprises or really even that alarming in this article.

Obviously to work, it requires the person to be able to attach the device directly to the car. There are any number of bad things a person can do if they have undetected access alone with your car (place a bomb, attach a gps, instal listening devices, hide in the back seat to assault you, or even just steal your car our right). Why would anyone bee shocked they could attach something to the electronics and control them?

Second thought is, if you have something like OnStar then a 3rd party can already track your car and shut it down.

[kevinpate]

Agreed. As for the various insurance devices, if an insurer wants to know my driving habits, they can either suck it up and come along for a ride, or go get a drone and try to keep up.


(aside to current insurer, jus' joshin'. y'all know I scarcely even drive anymore, let alone drive fast, fast, fast.)

[kevinpate]

Yeah, it is a bit like saying I can hack your bank account and your credit card account. All I need is for you to leave your wallet on the table when you go to the restroom for a few minutes.

[Mel]

They don't mention what would happen if an Okie found someone under the hood messing with your car.

[OKCDrummer77]

Marginally related, but people are way too liberal with the word "hack" anyway. If you leave the room, and someone grabs your computer and posts a Facebook status, they did not "hack" you. They typed on your computer.

[BBatesokc]

Marginally related, but people are way too liberal with the word "hack" anyway. If you leave the room, and someone grabs your computer and posts a Facebook status, they did not "hack" you. They typed on your computer.

Completely agree. So annoying when there is some headline about how someone 'hacked' into some's phone and got their messages, voicemails, photos, etc., when 99% of the time they simply figured out their password.