Advances in medical technology are making people’s lives better every day and the future looks even brighter … and darker, if we don’t get the security right. Here’s a link to a piece I wrote for the IBM SecurityIntelligence.com blog on the subject I hope you find useful.
I recently wrote about a vehicle hacking demonstration which exposed serious vulnerabilities in a 2014 Chrysler Jeep Cherokee in “Hack my ride.” As expected, the threat extended well beyond that specific make and model and resulted in the recall of 1.4 million vehicles that were affected by the vulnerability.
Don’t feel smug because you don’t drive one of those models because the hits keep coming…
Here’s one that affects GM’s OnStar system, specifically, the mobile app that allows for remote access of vehicle functions. As you can see in this video below, it is possible to create a good deal of havoc with little more than about $100’s worth of equipment.
According Wired.com:
When the driver comes within Wi-Fi range of Kamkar’s $100 contraption, which he’s named “OwnStar” in a reference for the hacker jargon to “own” or control a system, it impersonates a familiar Wi-Fi network to trick the user’s phone into silently connecting.
The consequences?
a hacker could patiently track a car, retrieve his or her hacking device, and unlock the car’s doors to steal anything inside. From across the Internet, they can start the vehicle’s ignition, or use its horn and alarm to create mayhem. The hacker can also access the user’s name, email, home address, and last four digits of a credit card and expiration date, all of which are accessible through an OnStar account.
The good news? This one should be fixable with a patch to the mobile app.
The bad news? Expect to see more of these sorts of car hacks to come.
You are driving down the road minding your own business on a brisk winter day when suddenly the stereo starts blaring unrecognizable music, the air conditioner begins blasting cold air, the onboard navigation system changes course, the headlights start flashing, the engine turns off, killing the power steering and braking systems making a controlled stop difficult, if not impossible. Oh, and the same thing just happened to every other car on the road around you at the very same time.
Got your attention?
That scenario, though implausible today, is not impossible in the not too distant future. The Internet of Things (IoT) movement to turn everything we use into computers has already taken hold in the automotive industry. Cool new features that let you remotely lock and unlock and start your car are becoming more common. That’s great news for both the good folks who enjoy this infusion of technology into more and more parts of their lives and it’s great news for the bad guys who would like to exploit the darker sider of these advancements.
The point is that if you can control all these systems on your car wirelessly, the potential exists for a hacker to do the same.
While the doomsday scenario outlined previously is still a bit far fetched, it may not be as unlikely as you might think as we are already starting to see proof of concept attacks and other vulnerabilities emerge. Here are a few examples:
“activate door locking mechanisms, as well as a range of other services including real-time traffic information, online entertainment and air conditioning.”
Apparently the communications between the car and the controller weren’t encrypted so an attacker could trick the car into listening to unauthorized commands. The problem is supposed to be fixed now but one has to wonder why it just now occurred to the powers that be that authenticating the source of the commands might be an important feature.
“Zhejiang University students have hacked the Tesla Model S with an attack that enabled them to open its doors and sun roof, switch on the headlights and sound the horn – all while the car was driving along.”
“papers published in 2010 and 2011, on-board components such as CD players, Bluetooth for hands-free calls, and “telematics” units for OnStar and similar road-side services make it possible for an attacker to remotely execute malicious code.
The research is still in its infancy, but its implications are unsettling. Trick a driver into loading the wrong CD or connecting the Bluetooth to the wrong handset, and it’s theoretically possible to install malicious code on one of the ECUs. Since the ECUs communicate with one another using little or no authentication, there’s no telling how far the hack could extend.”
Before you throw away your keys and go horse shopping bear in mind that most cars on the road lack these sort of remote control capabilities in the first place but that is changing. The hope here is that the auto makers will learn from these early mistakes and make safer vehicles in the future. The likelihood is that we will hear about a lot more of these types of vulnerabilities before they do.
Now, who wants a self driving car?
Inside Internet Security 