Are you Wired for destruction?

Wired Magazine has just revealed at a Black Hat Security Conference in Las Vegas that hackers can actually control your car while it drives! And two inventors have invented a cheap device that can sense mischief in your electronic systems and shut it off.  A simple device that easily installs under your car's dashboard into an existing plug-in! The OBD-2 port. Part of the Telematics System.
And the two who invented the $150. device also showed that it can be done wirelessly! It’s even possible to hack a car with malware embedded in an MP3 and with code transmitted over a Wi-Fi connection.Most people are not aware that a modern automobile can be controlled from afar. What do you think OnStar does in your Cadillac? Yet another 'We keep you safe' message.

The inventors performed tests and showed they could even disable brakes at low speeds. Nothing to say they couldn't have done the same thing at high speeds. So we assume they could press that gas pedal electronically to cause high speed, completely oblivious to the terrified driver's physical input! Of course when you press your gas pedal in a modern automobile, you are not pulling a wire somewhere between a carburetor and the pedal, you are sending an electrical impulse to a sensor that pushes more fuel and air into your engine. 

Doesn't this take the tin hats off all those who believed that someone took control of journalist Michael Hasting's Mercedes 250 and caused him to crash into a tree so hard the engine was flung hundreds of feet away?
Michael Hastings was a 33 year old, crack investigative reporter for Rolling Stone Magazine, whose June 2010 article, “The Runaway General,” exposed the behind-the-scenes failure of top U.S. General Stanley McChrystal’s counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan—and, even more damagingly, revealed McChrystal's mocking attitude toward the Obama administration, which ultimately led to the general’s resignation. Shortly thereafter, Hastings was plagued with threatening phone calls. Speculation that Hastings could have been murdered center around comments made by
former counter-terror czar Richard Clarke, who pointed out the ease with which modern vehicles could be hijacked via computer hacking. A Forbes video demonstrated how it is now possible to commandeer a car using an iPad.

It is a pity that no one revealed this long ago; that someone could take complete control of your vehicle for murderous reasons. One Congressman, Ed Markey sent letters to 20 car manufacturers demanding to know why this is possible in a new vehicle. No response.
Is the NSA having back-door software built into cars now too?

A hacked car has more serious consequences than eavesdropped emails or stolen credit cards. The manufacturers have changed our driving in an honest attempt to make things better for all. However the doors are also open a crack to malicious control of your vehicle. 

The inventors said they don't plan to market their invention, but for $150. there are more than a few consumers who would spring for the device and would like to monitor their own vehicles and have control themselves.

Behave yourself and don't be a journalist exposing the truth.
Ride a bike too.



Controlling your car?

Who Killed Michael Hastings?

Car and Driver car hacking