Vehicle Hacking Now And In The Future

With vehicles becoming more and reliant upon computer systems. The question that often comes up is whether or not they are vulnerable to hackers.

We reported last week that 4G LTE internet might be on its way to an increasing number of vehicles in the next few years. Could an onboard internet connection lead to vehicles getting hacked? For the most part, vehicle hacking vulnerability seems to be a matter of waiting and hoping not. However, there has been some research into this issue.

Norton, the anti-virus software company, published an article about how vulnerable vehicles may be to outside hacking. Stephan A. Tarnutzer, the COO of an auto consulting and electronic design firm, explained in the article that vehicle hacking starts with microprocessors. “Because they are hidden, people don’t often understand that there can be anywhere from 30 to 40 microprocessors in most cars and even up to 100 different ones running different functions in some vehicles,” Tarnutzer said. Those systems may be susceptible to hacking. According to the Norton report, one of the types of hacking that has occurred is vehicle disablement. Reports indicate that a “disgruntled employee” at Texas Auto Center used a web-based vehicle immobilization system to wreak havoc. More than 100 vehicle owners who had their cars equipped with a repossession system ran into chaos or frustration. The former employee was able to use the system, which is meant to disable vehicles when the owner falls behind on payments to make horns honk incessantly or disable starters.

Another type of hacking, which has occurred, is hacking into tire pressure systems. Researchers at the University of South Carolina and Rutgers University were able to hack into a vehicle system and trigger warning lights. However, more disturbingly, the researchers were able to track the vehicle using its tire monitoring system. Norton also cautioned consumers to beware of certain dealerships, which may rig systems in vehicles to go off prematurely, in order to show the need for service, when none is necessary.

With companies like Tesla motors already allowing their owners to unlock and start their Model S with an iPhone, its easy to see how dependent on technology vehicles are becoming. What do you think of vehicle hacking? Do you think that vehicles will become more vulnerable as they receive onboard internet features?