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Tesla Model S Has Been Hacked
cartechboy writes: First, it was Chrysler last month with its Uconnect system being hacked while being driven down the road. Now, it's Tesla's turn. That's right, the Silicon Valley automaker's very own Model S electric car has been hacked by two white-hat hackers. The duo were able to manipulate the speedometer, lock and unlock the car, and at speeds of less than 5 mph they were able to make all the electronics go blank and shut down the car while engaging the emergency parking brake dragging the car to a stop. Tesla's already issued a software update that owners can download to path the security flaw. Welcome to the new world where cars can be hacked thanks to all their electronics.
What the summary fails to omit is that you first need physical access to the car and since they have the ability to do updates over-the-air, they don't need to recall more than a million vehicles to fix the issue.
Didn't they have to physically "break" the car before they got access into it? Your post is clearly a scare tactic.
Nothing here... So... SHOOO!!!
To protect against cyber threats that would work. To protect against nuclear EMP (since we were talking Fallout)? Not so much. Even 70s and 80s cars use coils and ECUs, and that would get fried. What you need is mechanically injected car with non-electronic control. Some of the early 70s Mercedes would almost work, since they used vacuum to control everything.
Tesla's efforts still won't provide the level of electronic security from remote hacks that old Lucas equipment did.
Time to offend someone
as a college grad with more debt than a south american country, I can tell you I was worried about this bug. I came up with a handy countermeasure to avoid nefarious car hackers:
I work two jobs and drive a 2001 Ford crown victoria i bought for six hundred bucks at a police auction. It burns oil, and smells like parking citations and regret. On a hot day it stinks like hamburgers; I do not know why. The jiggle required to get the spare key to engage the ignition is nothing short of a shao-lin kung fu scene. This car still has a throttle cable, and practically came off the line with the check-engine light on. The upholstery is permanently stained with the detritus of an entire cities overweight, underpaid cops.
Hacking my brakes wont work, the pedal goes to the floor to try and stop this 2 and a quarter ton house on wheels so if anything it might be an improvement. randomly triggering the accellerator, assuming one can do this in a vehicle with a throttle cable, will result in a godless heavy metal grunt from the engine as this 210 horsepower v8 struggles to maintain basic lane positioning. The AC hasnt worked since the clinton era, and mysteriously burps up pieces of foam. The door locks are mysterious and random enough already, and functionless for the rear passenger.
Good people go to bed earlier.
The only reason why this is happening is because the software developers are morons. In a mission critical system you never give write access from an entertainment module to critical system. The information system should not have the ability to make any changes in the engine software. The best way to enforce this is to use a hardware read only bus that sits between the entertainment system and engine system and only allow traffic to flow from the engine to the info system but not the other way around.
I use is in emergencies all the time in the winter. Every time I'm in a parking lot after a fresh snow, I urgently need to do 90 and 180 degree turns repeatedly. I assumed that was what it was for as it works perfectly - what do you use it for?
"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." - Every fascist, ever
When hydraulic brakes were introduced there was concern that if they failed, the driver would have no way to stop the vehicle. So, regulations were added to require every car with hyrdaulic (or electric) brakes to also have an Emergency brake that was totally manual and not connected to the hydraulic system. This was to satisfy FMVSS 105 (now replaced with FMVSS 135):
" Vehicles shall be capable of stopping under partial failure of the service brake system, inoperative brake power assist unit or brake power unit, antilock failure, variable proportioning valve failure, and with the engine off"
There is a maximum distance and pedal pressure specified.
FMVSS 135 also states:
"Each vehicle shall be manufactured with a parking brake system which, when engaged, shall be capable of holding the vehicle stationary on a specified grade for a specified time. "
I have never seen a passenger vehicle with two separate systems, so the Emergency Brake is also the Parking Brake. Or handbrake if you prefer as it is manual brake.
Why would you NOT use the e-brake in an Emergency? You are barrelling down the highway at 70mph when your oil filter lets go. Your engine overheats and fails within seconds. Do you a) do nothing or b) use the ebrake to slow down and pull over? why would you not want to save your own life?
Can we stop calling you guys 'editors', and just get on with 'clowns who post story submissions'.
Because it's quite clear you don't actually, you know, edit.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
OK, so there's a security patch available. So what? "We regret that you crashed at 85mph yesterday - please download our latest patch?" The problem is not the software per se, but the mere fact that there's external access at all. Because there's simply no such thing as "flawless" code. And the internet's been around long enough to show us that, if there's any legitimate way in, people who want to abuse the system will get in as well, and find a way to subvert it. And right now all we're seeing are "white hat" attacks; just wait until the black hat guys start getting creative.
As opposed to the old world where a car that didn't have any sophisticated electronics was trivial for someone to steal?
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Because people are trusting their life to a system that has consistently proven that it is not secure
You know what else I'm trusting my life to? You not turning your steering wheel a quarter turn left when we pass each other on the road. I'm trusting that you will actually stop at a stop sign. I'm trusting that my airbag will not malfunction. I'm trusting the ignition to actually work. I'm trusting that you are capable of driving competently unimpaired by alcohol. We trust our lives to a lot of things that have consistently proven to not be secure and this bit of hacking is no where near the top of the danger list. Sure, let's be concerned about it but let's not blow it out of proportion either.