Toyota's Torment Justified?

I have an interesting thought which I developed recently regarding microcomputer chip security. I spent 20+ years in the semiconductor industry, with experience in hardware design, microcode, and assembly code, and field applications.

I have learned that in complex systems, it is possible, but not practical or cost effective to test for every decision path, or every operational permutation in code.

I also believe that when chip design and fab are done offshore, the offshore design/fab company can add on chip hardware which may be accessible only by special microcode sequences, and not be accessible by using the OEM customer specified test vectors. Since today's microcomputer chips now have 5 to 10+ million transistors on chip, finding intentionally hidden microcode logic ain't gonna be easy.

This means that U.S. companies could be buying offshore chips which have sleeping trojan horses built into the hardware. Couple this possibility with CIA & Secret Service investigations into how top secret U.S. servers are being hacked into. The feds are now taking a hard look, at keeping all mission critical hardware chip design and fab on-shore and under maximum security.

A sure way to cripple the U.S. economy would be to have thousands or millions of consumer vehicles randomly lock up safety critical control systems, such as brakes, fuel/throttle control, and ignition. No ethical automotive control systems software engineer would design a system without 'fail safes' to protect the driver from stuck throttle or locked out brakes. Yet, that is precisely what is happening in these late model vehicles. One would have to covertly create code (on chip microcode) to cause the failures we are seeing.

And, at the risk of being obvious, I must point out that none of the existing vehicle diagnostics equipment, or software code test procedures will find evidence of buried microcode trojan horses.

I hate to be an alarmist, but I believe the Big 6 auto manufacturers will not solve these problems until they replace the 20 Million fuel/brake microcomputer chips now in service on U.S. highways, or put hardwired 'brute force' fail safe systems in place.

Comments from others are welcome...

well thats an interesting perspective... hmmm.

I'm a bit surprised on the whole importance this has in the news.

Surprisingly the problems occur in the US. Where it is a national sport/habit to blame another for your own stupidity (spilling hot coffee on your pants is to blame the coffee producer, and getting out millions $$)

Secondly, US industry needs a black sheep, the high ranking non native US competitor is then the obvious choice.

On the troyan subject: if the importance is to make as much money in as short possible timespan, this is the result of the game: dependancy to external companies, who have played the game very well.

They offer to take over your production facilities, at a superb price.

They take over also the production of your competitor.

Secondly they join the two productions offshore.

Later you have to pay double as there is shortage on the market, as none of the old companies have production of their own anymore, they have to step out of business or pay the extra price.

Your thought is perfectly valid in my opinion.

On a parallel course, much malware is distributed on USB thumb drives. There has been much speculation, though little hard proof, that some of the malware originated at the manufacturer's facilities. Taiwan is often pointed at. It wouldn't be very far-fetched, IMO, for an anti-American agent in the facility to be the source of the malware.

Ah, yes, conspiracy theory time!!

That said, there is a huge cyberwar going on around the world. Most anything is possible in virtual land.

Hooker

its funny you think this way because ive suspected that some form of deliberate design flaw has been put into vehicles as they always seem to break down just after the warranty expires, bit of a coincedence dont you think ?

The trojans will no doubt all mature in 2012....

Beware of geeks bearing gifts!

beware of trojan horse power

Seems it all comes down to get the product out the door.

Automotive designers are under extreme pressure from the accountant type managers to get the product finished with the least possible expense and as fast as possible.

Add to this ugly mix the pressure from the environmental lobby to keep increasing fuel millage, and the spineless government enacting silly rules like the CAFE and one ends up with a disaster similar to what we are now seeing.

it is time to get back to the five year view, rather than the next quarter.

Although I am strictly "buy American" I beleive Toyota is getting a raw deal by alarmists . And maybe just maybe the other auto makers are helping to throw a little ,no pun intended, gasoline on the fire.

oilcan13

Why the hell would we buy American?

Not much strictly American in any case, huge numbers of vehicles are made in the third world country know as Mexico. Should have never allowed them into the North American Free Trade agreement. The US lost hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs to low pay and not benefits in Mexico. They still send back recreational drugs, cheap labor, and poorly assembled vehicles.

While I agree with you in the whole, I do have to take issue with "poorly assembled vehicles" from Mexico.

A company I worked for in the 90's was tasked with taking 2 "identical" GM cars and doing metrics and destructive checks to see how well they were assembled (including welding). One car was from Mexico (manually welded body) and the other built in Youngstown, Ohio.

The parts assembly was far superior on the Mexican built car. There was excellent attention to parallel seams, using all the fasteners, consistent glue usage and many other factors. The Youngstown car was a mess just visually; the hood and trunk lids weren't straight, the doors were crooked, the windshield was not fully glued. I could go on and on.

As far as welding the manual welding from Mexico was superior. The Youngstown welding looked like regular maintenance had not been done on the tips on the robotic welders, and/ or that the welding schedules were all screwed up.

So, anyway, unless things have changed in the last 10 or so years, I would've preferred a vehicle from Mexico. That said, I recently acquired a new Kia, made here in the US, and kept the vast majority of the cost of making the Kia here at home.

Hooker

I said "I" not "YOU". I would expect You to buy Belgium. That is if They manufacture anything there besides waffles.

oilcan13

Not only are the waffles great , they also make some excellent chocolate and someone (from Belgium) told me they also invented french fries. Of course on the down side there's brussel sprouts.

What I try to show you is that the idea: I strictly buy amarican, has nothing to see with the problem discussed.

The original source of the acceleration problem is due a part made in Tsechia, build in cars, all over the world.

The so proud amarican nationalst, buying a Ford, thinking he buys good all american quality might have exactly the same accelerator pedal in his car as the version in the Toyota.

In Europe we now have the label: Made in the EU, which covers the complete range of parts made here. It is now even impossible to know where it is made.

BTW: we do assemble cars (Ford, Volvo, Audi, and if US accountants allow Opel)

But the best we are in making problems that no one has been thinking about, and then we proudly solve them, shifting backwards the problems that should have been solved first.

I saw something on the tv last night saying Volvo was getting sold to China, and GM was recalling 10000 vans.

I tend to agree with you. 14 million Ford vehicles are at risk for "sudden combustion", but it took the US Government 15 years or so to address the problem and it has been handled so quietly that most US citizens are unaware of the number of Fords that have caught fire while parked, sometimes burning up houses and people. Now Toyota has a "sudden acceleration" problem and it is in the news daily in the US. The treatment of these issues doesn't seem even-handed to me.

Food for the thought.

Just to put things in perspectives.

~600 people are killed by cars every week in North America in various accidents.

How many were killed by run away Toyota's?

If we invested as much money per death in car accident that we invested in 911 tragic outcome, nobody would get close to a car anymore...

Great Topic peterg7ly. I think Toyota is getting a lot more heat then they should. There are obviously going to be issues with every car manufacturer over time. However, one thing after another keeps coming up with Toyota. Just last week consumer reports wrote all about a Lexus (Toyota) SUV that had serious stability control system issues. Pretty scary stuff. It was mended with a software update already by Toyota, but you'd assume a company that has been producing cars for years would know to extensively check their products, especially in tests that consumer reports would conduct per each car evaluation.

I think Toyota is getting more mainstream heat then they should be, but I'm hoping it reminds all car manufacturers rigorously test their products and stay sharp.