This is becoming very creepy! Last month, two US researchers were able to hack into a Jeep Cherokee using the infortainment system of the car. Earlier in July, Luxury vehicle manufacturer Landrover was forced to recall Range Rover models owing to a software bug, which made the vehicles susceptible to vandalism as it tampered with the key less ignition systems as well as locking technology. In the case of the Jeep Cherokee, its manufacture Fiat Chrysler, recalled 1.4 million vehicles and proceeded to issue a software update to deal with the vulnerabilities.
Tesla Motors, one of the companies led by Elon Musk has been forced to send a software patch to address security flaws in the Tesla Model S sedan that could allow hackers to take control of the vehicle. According to the Financial Times, a group of researchers were able to find six vulnerabilities with the vehicle including one, that allowed the hackers to turn it off in low speed. Tesla has since developed and deployed an over-the-air update to Model S owners to address the vulnerability besides acknowledging the presence of the shortcomings in the vehicles.
Tesla also clarified that the two researchers did not access the vehicle remotely as was the case with the Jeep Cherokee but rather hacked it when inside. The researchers said all the screens in the vehicle went black, the music turned off and the handbrake came on, before the vehicle lurched to a stop. With the advent of internet of things, cyber security issues with connected systems such as cars are likely to be more visible, which puts millions of consumers at the mercy of malicious hackers.
