Cars that are connected might become the future of cars sooner than we think. However, this convenience can come with a lot of security risks and vulnerabilities. These have been highlighted very recently with the Tesla hack and the Jeep hack, and if those weren’t enough, there might be another on one the way with Corvette. Researchers at the University of California at San Diego have been able to remotely engage a Corvette’s brakes by hacking into an insurance dongle that is plugged into the car’s OBD, on board diagnostics, port.
THE HACKERS SAY THAT THEY CAN HACK ANY CAR
The hackers also went as far to say that they can also control any vehicle that utilizes a telematics-enabled sensor, including a sensor that is popular among many insurance companies to monitor consumers. Recently, several hacks of this sort have surfaced, such as Chrysler, General Motors and Tesla.
MANY INSURANCE COMPANIES USE THESE DONGLES
Different insurance companies use on board diagnostics, or OBD, regularly to monitor location and speed. The researchers at the University of California at San Diego have been able to remotely engage or disengage the brakes on a 2013 Corvette by sending a SMS message to the dongle’s cellular radio, ad well as activate windshield wipers.
This hack of the on board diagnostics isn’t limited to Corvette’s or Chevrolet’s even thought the hackers were able to engage the car’s brakes at low speeds. The hackers, as well as those concerned believe that this hack can easily be modified to access systems like locks and transmissions, and steering of most modern cars.
DONGLE COMES FROM METROMILE, AN INSURANCE START UP
The dongle that was used to hack is distributed by MetroMile, and insurance startup that is based in San Francisco. MetroMile uses the dongle to charge customers by the mile. Researchers have already told the start up about this venerability, and it has since been worked on.
The hackers say that they will be presenting their findings at the Usenix conference on Tuesday. Although the target was Corvette, many other cars are at risk for similar events possibly hacking their systems.
