Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

GMC to Begin Remotely Scanning Cars for Trouble

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the hope-they-have-good-security dept.

Momoru writes "GMC, in an effort to give their vehicles more appeal to consumers, will begin offering an "OnStar Vehicle Diagnostics" program for free, where GM will remotely scan your vehicle for problems once a month via it's OnStar system. GM has had this ability for a while, however it was always "On Request". OnStar is already automatically notified in the event of an airbag deployment, and can remotely unlock your vehicle. While this seems handy, I am interested if anyone here fears the security implications of the OnStar system's power?"

4 of 620 comments (clear)

  1. Is the process so complex.... by amodm · · Score: 5, Interesting

    that it needs to be done remotely ?

    If not, couldn't they put in a mechanism in the car itself, where at the press of a button, all the diagnostics would be run, and a report generated and shown in a panel or something like that.

  2. Warranty claims? by ThreeGigs · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I wonder if GM might *not* tell you if they detect something amiss if it's covered under warranty. After all, if *you* didn't notice anything wrong, why should *they* spend money (and lower corporate earnings) to fix it? Can you imagine the earnings hit if 10% of OnStar vehicles were called back for an out-of-spec fuel injector? The driver wouldn't notice something like that, aside from a small hit on fuel economy. But will GM bother to tell you your injector on cylinder #3 is spitting out 10% more fuel than it should be?

  3. Re:I know this is a bit off-topic, but.. by ContemporaryInsanity · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It happens. I was recently involved in a project where commercial kitchen equipment monitors itself and reports performance and any potential problems via wifi to a central PC which will automatically inform the manufacturers of performance, maintenance issues and call out an engineer or manager if required via email, SMS etc. An big freezer full of food that dies in the middle of the night could be very expensive, one that rings you up so you can get it fixed as soon as possible can save a fortune.

  4. Airbags by MichaelSmith · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A friend of mine has a Toyota MR2. Recently he returned to his car from a walk and found that somebody had triggered the airbags (probably) by fiddling with an accelerometer.

    Funny thing is, all the doors were unlocked. It turns out that when the airbags fire the doors unlock, and you can fire airbags by physically hitting the accelerometer, and possibly by shorting a contact.

    So is this an easy way of unlocking the doors of a car? Sounds a bit insecure to me.

    --
    http://michaelsmith.id.au