Although car makers have ramped up their efforts for improving security lately, cars remain vulnerable to hacking, and the recent case involving “white hat” hackers breaking into a Jeep Cherokee remotely only highlighted the host of potential vulnerabilities that today’s cars are exposed to.
All You Need Is a Laptop
The researchers that hacked the Cherokee did it by using a laptop from the comfort of their home, while the vehicle was moving along a highway about 10 miles away. They took control of the vehicle through the Uconnect infotainment system’s cell phone connection, which means that anyone who has the car’s IP address can break into it wirelessly. They say that any Chrysler vehicle built between late 2013 and early 2015 that is equipped with a Uconnect system can be hacked using the same method, which prompted Fiat-Chrysler to recall about 1.4 million vehicles that are potentially affected by this issue.
Even though this doesn’t necessarily mean that every car on the road is vulnerable to hacker attacks, the fact is that many of them are. Any car that is connected to the Internet and comes with all sorts of wireless features, offering integration with mobile devices, is at risk of attacks. Just like computers, as cars become more connected, they become more susceptible to cyber attacks, as well.
Impact on Traffic Safety
Experts warn that hackers can reprogram in-vehicle infotainment systems remotely and gain access to various driving functions. Hackers could gain control of a vehicle’s steering, braking and transmission system, making the car accelerate, slow down, brake, or turn, with the driver not being able to do anything about it. That’s why cars’ vulnerability to hacker attacks can have an effect on road safety. With hackers being able to control a car remotely, they can cause collisions, jeopardizing driver and passenger safety, and put other road users at risk, as well.
Basically, cars that come with an infotainment system similar to Uconnect, such as BMW’s iDrive, GM’s MyLink, Ford’s SYNC, or Toyota’s Entune, can be wirelessly attacked, because they either have an Internet connection embedded in them or are connected with other vehicle systems. Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, the hackers who broke into the Jeep Cherokee, said that other than that vehicle, the 2014 Infiniti Q50, the 2015 Cadillac Escalade, the 2014 Ford Fusion, the 2014 Range Rover Evoque, the Toyota Prius, and the 2014 BMW X3, were especially vulnerable to hacker attacks.