High-tech cars raise possibility of cyber attacks
Imagine this nightmarish possibility: Al Qaeda terrorists cause thousands of motorists racing down a freeway during the morning commute to suddenly lose their brakes, leading to chaos, death and destruction. Implausible? Maybe not, some experts warn.
As cars and trucks have become laden with brainy devices to control such features as air bags and crash-avoidance systems, the vehicles have become increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks, according to recent studies by university researchers and security companies.
One found that a car’s computer controls could be remotely accessed through their Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or OnStar connections, potentially enabling terrorists to simultaneously disable the brakes of numerous cars, corporate spies to eavesdrop on a motoring executive’s phone calls or thieves to electronically locate, break into and start cars they’ve targeted to steal. Another study showed how a car’s tire-pressure warning system could be wirelessly tricked into sending false alerts to drivers, which could prompt them to stop and fall prey to robbers following them.
Speculating that villains might short an auto company’s stock and then cause widespread problems in its cars, Ryan Permeh, a principal security architect at Intel Corp.’s McAfee division, added, “I can definitely imagine organized crime or potentially even nation states leveraging weaknesses in these functions to cause different kinds of havoc.”
Although instances of car hacking have been extremely rare, the threat has gotten the attention of automakers.
“We are very, very concerned,” said Chrysler spokesman Vince Muniga, adding that it is consulting with computer experts to identify “things that may be vulnerable in the future.”
Similarly, Ford “is taking the threat very seriously” and “working to ensure that we’ve developed a product that is as resistant to attack as possible,” said Rich Strader, the company’s director of information technology, security and storage.
The subject also has gotten the federal government’s attention.
“The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is aware of the potential for ‘hackers’ and is working with automakers to better understand what steps can and are being taken to address the problem,” the agency said in a statement, adding that it has asked the National Academy of Sciences to look into the matter.