Personal Cyber Threats

Since the Toyota fiasco earlier this year, I have been trying to make the auto industry aware of the possibility that an unintended installation of malicious code onto a vehicles computer by an unsuspecting dealer's mechanic during a routine reading of the vehicle's OBD port is in fact a reality.

A group of researchers have written a paper regarding realtime hacks via the OBD port but did not explore this particular scenario.

RESEARCH PAPER.

The paper also described briefly the possibility of a hack via the wireless technology that is being incorporated into the vehicle's network on late models of vehicles. The paper provided some sobering information as intentional brake failure, sudden brake lockup, as well as the unintended acceleration.

The next time you are traveling down the highway in that Infinity or Lexus stuffed to-the-gills with electronics, you might ask yourself "is my vehicle being hacked?"