CNN recently published a very interesting article recently, and it has to do with automobiles. Nope, it isn’t the newest crop of 2015 (or 2016) automobiles, but something that is somewhat known, but presented in a very A Scanner Darkly kind of way. A driving vehicle is a big computer, and it can be hacked.
This is not far-fetched fiction read in dystopian novels, despite the fact that Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is coming true more and more every passing year. This is the near-future of a driving vehicle. Even today’s hackers are warning us about this possibility. That in itself is a big deal if the hackers of today are demanding caution about this evident situation.
Most people probably know their driving vehicle includes a number of computers. What they don’t know is how much of their vehicle is a computer, and that it is a “high-tech” computer, too. Hackers can easily utilize high-tech computers to their advantage, even if it is a remotely, which was utilized in the video game Watch Dogs . And if you don’t think this could happen with your vehicle, take into account that almost all the new vehicles coming out this year and next are wireless connected all the time. That is 24/7 access a hacker has to your vehicle.
That by itself isn’t bad, but partner the vehicle’s wireless connectivity with the “ancient technology” a vehicle still has, the hacking just became a lot easier. Below is a list of all that is wrong with a driving vehicle that can make it a hacked vehicle.
- The 50 to 100 tiny computers used to control everything from steering, acceleration, and brakes are ancient technology, meaning they are really dumb. There is no authentication check meaning a message to turn the car right, can come from someone else besides you.
- The computer codes in a vehicle are outdated. They are similar to the basic single-circuit on/off switches used in industrial controls making them easy to manipulate.
- The electronics in a vehicle are like a human central nervous system. Just tap one part of the system, hackers have access to the rest.
To really drive this important article home, hackers have already proven they can hack a driven vehicle through its wireless connection, allowing them to control the vehicle’s anti-lock breaks. The video is shown below.
This is just the vehicle’s anti-lock breaks. What about the airbag or the electronic doors or whatever else that may be connected in the vehicle? This is the scenario that Mark Dice has presented in his recent report about the vehicle hacking report by CNN . Dice explains that the vehicle hacking could be used to silence people who cause issues for the government; whether they attack the NSA, government dealings, or whatever it may be, this is a convenient way to silence the voices of those who may expose them.
In the future, would vehicle hacking become a problem, or possibly a form of controlling and punishing the people? If everything in Brave New World is correct. Why, I can go far enough to say that if everything in The Holy Bible is happening now, then vehicle hacking may become more common in the future.
[Image via CNN Report]