Two security researchers have recently created a device that can effectively hack a car.
Although cars function as a closed network, Javier Vazquez-Vidal and Alberto Garcia Illera have taken it upon themselves to show just how easily a hacker can gain control of a vehicle.
The two are planning on presenting their findings at the Black Hat Asia security conference in Singapore.
Andy Greenberg describes the invention for Forbes:
... Spanish security researchers Javier Vazquez-Vidal and Alberto Garcia Illera plan to present a small gadget they built for less than $20 that can be physically connected to a car’s internal network to inject malicious commands affecting everything from its windows and headlights to its steering and brakes. Their tool, which is about three-quarters the size of an iPhone, attaches via four wires to the Controller Area Network or CAN bus of a vehicle, drawing power from the car’s electrical system and waiting to relay wireless commands sent remotely from an attacker’s computer. They call their creation the CAN Hacking Tool, or CHT.
John Hanson, safety manager of Toyota, dismissed these security concerns and told Forbes, “Our focus, and that of the entire auto industry, is to prevent hacking from a remote wireless device outside of the vehicle."
This report comes not long after hackers managed to use a refrigerator to hack a business. As everyday appliances become more technical and outfitted with computer chips, consumers are exposing themselves ever more to cyber vulnerability.
The capability to hack cars seems to take the dangers of hacking to an entirely new and more immediate level.
Vazquez-Vidal and Garcia Illera, like most other security experts, said they are not trying to empower the hacking community through their work. Instead, they hope that by addressing such glaring insecurities, car manufacturers will start to pay attention and reinforce the networks present in all cars.