Ford, GM and Toyota Sued Because Vehicles Might Be Hacked Someday

A lawsuit against Toyota, GM and Ford alleges that the companies are leaving consumers vulnerable to hackers. The Stanley Law group out of Texas filed this class-action suit. The suit was filed in Northern California’s Northern District court on behalf of Helene Cahen, Kerry J. Tompulis, and Merrill Nisam. The suit alleges that Ford, Toyota and GM didn’t do their part to keep their vehicles safe. The suit reads in part, “When Defendants sell or lease any vehicle to a customer, they have a duty to ensure the vehicle functions properly and safely, and is free from defects.” The allegation is that those automakers didn’t put in the effort to keep their vehicles safe.

The suit continues by alleging GM, Toyota and Ford…”sold or leased vehicles that are susceptible to computer hacking and are therefore unsafe. Because Defendants failed to ensure the basic electronic security of their vehicles, anyone can hack into them, take control of the basic functions of the vehicle, and thereby endanger the safety of the driver and others.” This hacking would occur because the vehicles contain ECUs, which are operated via a controller area network. The ECUs talk to each other and send data packets back and forth.

Theoretically, if a hacker could manipulate how data is sent around a vehicle, it could prove disruptive or highly dangerous. The plaintiffs are asking for damages, a personalized automotive recall, a reimbursement of legal fees, as well as a jury trial on the issue.

The concern over vehicle hacking is not a new one. 60 Minutes, the CBS news program caught a lot of attention for their vehicle hacking segment. In the piece, a reporter was behind the wheel of a disguised Chevy Impala, while another reporter worked with a DARPA official who successfully hacked the vehicle, taking control of the brakes and even windshield wipers. To add more attention to vehicle hacking, this report came out around the time that U.S. Senator Ed Markey published a report on the issue. It seemed to paint automakers as either not aware or not desirous to be concerned with or fix vehicle vulnerability to hacking.

However, some including Doug Newcomb with Forbes, feel the reports by the news media and U.S. Senator are exaggerated. Newcomb wrote an article in which he interviewed Damian McCoy, a professor at George Mason University who questioned why hackers would go to all the trouble that hacking requires. McCoy said, “Given the [monetary] motivation of most hackers, the chance of [automotive hacking] is very low.”