According to a report by Automotive News, citing The Financial Times, a team of researchers from a cybersecurity firm have successfully hacked and gained control of a Tesla Model S. Among the six “significant flaws” determined, one of the most telling was that the team managed to turn the vehicle off from a “low speed of five miles per hour (8 km/h)” and bring it to a complete standstill.
“All the screens go black, the music turns off and the handbrake comes on, lurching it to a stop,” commented Cloudfare principal security researcher, Marc Rogers. The exercise, headed by Rogers and Kevin Mahaffey of cybersecurity firm Lookout, was conducted as part of a demonstration to promote both firms’ “reputation for understanding software better than that of most automakers.”
With that said, the hackers were only able to do so upon gaining physical entry into the Model S and plugging a laptop into the car’s system, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Not one to take unnecessary risks, Tesla Motors has since issued a countermeasure in the form of an “over-the-air” update to all owners of the Model S to help quell the “vulnerabilities.”
The firm has also confirmed that the hackers were only able to gain control of the vehicle from the inside in a statement. “Our security team works closely with the security research community to ensure that we continue to protect our systems against vulnerabilities by constantly stress-testing, validating, and updating our safeguards,” the carmaker stated.
As frightening as it may seem, at least the hackings this time round were conducted in a controlled environment. Just recently, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) issued a recall for 1.4 million units of its vehicles in the US over concerns that a variety of its models were susceptible to wireless hacking.
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Well you could also hijack and control a conventional car if you gained physical entry.
To do that, the perpetrator must risk exposing himself in the open. With cyber-crime, someone from the other side of the globe could do the same thing, all while relaxing in their ‘base’, and as with ‘conventional’ cyber-crime today, it’s VERY hard to find the criminals. Often times, these attacks are government sponsored. Just look at the recent Sony hacking over that Interview movie, it almost started WW3. And the Wikileaks/ Snowden incident, which no doubt increased tensions between the U.S. and Russia.
Cyber-crime is as bad if not worse than ‘normal’ crime (murder, theft, drugs etc.), it’s only because we don’t immediately see the effects that we’re often fooled into believing that cyber-crime is not as serious as the ‘real’ crime.
Haha stupid hackers doing it for publicity. If you can hack the car remotely then talk. If inside the vechicle u want to stop the car just step on the brakes la dude…
Thus , this is the way that mh370 been hacked by maybe fellow american
My 1992 Kancil and 1980 Beetle is the safest. No single computing involved.
your kancil door can open with pembaris. very safe indeed
This is why… I drive an old Saga… no electronics, no problem ! LOL
…. err, actually no, the Model S is just too awesome to ignore… I hope authorities will get serious about the threat of ‘cyber-car-rime’ (get it ? car-rime ? … ok never mind) and enact/ enforce the regulations/ laws appropriately.
This is a very worrying prospect… our lives are their greatest risk while we’re on the road. If a hacker hacks our PC, the worst that could happen is identity theft or leaks… it’s hard to KILL someone by hacking their PC alone. But it’s VERY EASY to kill someone by hacking into their car’s built-in computer system. And other people could die too… I hope more people become aware of this. It’s not science fiction, it’s real and it’s already happening.