Connected cars will increasingly be under attack. Tesla is working proactively to address these threats.
Chinese security researchers working at Keen Security Lab have successfully demonstrated the ability to remotely commandeer a Tesla Model S. The team has been working with the electric car manufacturer to identify and patch such vulnerabilities--this particular one has already been resolved with an over-the-air software update to car owners.
With today’s new generation vehicles rife with electronic subsystems, the possibility of vulnerabilities to a hacking attack is becoming more real than ever. Ever since the news of the Jeep SUV shown to be remotely hacked, giving the ‘controllers’ the ability to work the in-car entertainment system and even apply brakes wirelessly, auto companies have been sitting up and taking notice.
In this video, one of the researchers starts by using the vehicle’s mapping search function to locate the closest electric charging station. From here, the researchers is able to take over both the instrument cluster screens as well as the car’s infotainment screen. It doesn’t stop there--they are also able to remotely unlock the doors, open the trunk, unfold the side mirrors, move the power seats, open the sunroof, and even apply brakes when the vehicle is in motion.
In a statement given to The Verge, Tesla stated, “Within just 10 days of receiving this report, Tesla has already deployed an over-the-air software update (v7.1, 2.36.31) that addresses the potential security issues. The issue demonstrated is only triggered when the web browser is used, and also required the car to be physically near to and connected to a malicious wifi hotspot. Our realistic estimate is that the risk to our customers was very low, but this did not stop us from responding quickly.”
“We engage with the security research community to test the security of our products so that we can fix potential vulnerabilities before they result in issues for our customers. We commend the research team behind today’s demonstration and plan to reward them under our bug bounty program, which was set up to encourage this type of research.”
At a time when automotive systems are becoming increasingly complex and with the safety of consumers at stake, it is going to be key for car manufacturers to swiftly identify and patch such issues with fast turnaround times.
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 "Tesla Model S | Hacking | Remote control")
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