IF YOU drive a late model car, driver-assist technology now operates a lot of it on your behalf. But if that car is connected to the Internet as well—as a lot of them are—you could be exposing a horrifying amount of control to hackers.
The possibility of car hacking is becoming more real. Researchers have analyzed car models to see how they were becoming more digitized and thus, potentially more insecure. As vehicles’ electronic systems evolve, the automobiles are starting to require the same protection as laptop computers and e-commerce servers.
In a recent experiment, American hackers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek put on an extraordinary demonstration by logging into a Chrysler Jeep Cherokee remotely, while it was being driven by an auto journalist, and systematically taking over the car’s functionality.
First, they hit the driver with cold air through the air-con system, then they blasted Kanye West through the stereo at full volume, rendering the volume knob completely useless. They flashed up a picture of themselves on the car’s console and set the windscreen wipers going full blast, squirting cleaning fluid onto the windscreen and making it difficult to see.
Then they cut the transmission. Immediately the accelerator stopped working and the Jeep lost half its speed, then slowed to a crawl.
These revelations resulted in Fiat Chrysler recalling 1.4 million vehicles in the US that can be remotely hacked over the Internet.
After the vulnerability was uncovered, Chrysler offered a software upgrade that it recommended customers install “at their earliest convenience.”
Chrysler said it is unaware of any accidents, injuries, warranty claims or complaints related to the software bug, other than a single incident orchestrated by Miller and Valasek.
But Mark Rosekind, head of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, believes the cyber security issues could pose a problem for cars and trucks from other automakers, not just Fiat Chrysler.
His watchdog agency is trying to determine how many car makers received wireless components from the same company that supplied Fiat Chrysler.
"The supplier didn't just supply radios to Chrysler but to a lot of other manufacturers," Rosekind told reporters. "A lot of our work now is trying to find out how broad the vulnerability could be."
The potential raises the possibility of more automaker recalls over hacking vulnerabilities, an issue that has grabbed the attention of regulators, lawmakers and the public. Last month a researcher warned that hackers could exploit a security flaw in a mobile app for General Motors' OnStar vehicle communications system
"This is the shot across the bow. Everybody's been saying 'cyber security.' Now you've got to step up," Rosekind said. "You've got to see the entire industry proactively dealing with these things."
So should we be worried? According to experts: not so much.
"I'm more afraid of some idiot texting while driving and running into me than someone hacking my car, if that'll tell you anything," said one expert.
Given the proclivity of texting while driving in the Philippines, perhaps he has a good point.