3.5 Trojans and Vehicles
261
3.5.2 New Type of Threats—Car Viruses
Let us use a specific example to demonstrate how the development of cybertechnologies jeopardizes security of a modern vehicle crammed with electronics.
In the past, car viruses were extremely rare, as the car mechanic was the only
person capable of infecting a car through a connected computer or by means of
software used for car diagnostics. Since then, times have changed; however, these
changes are far from positive.
America. Texas. 2010. Over 100 Texan car owners faced extremely unusual problems related to their cars. The most easily impressed ones of the affected car owners
even decided that their vehicles were possessed by demons; this is how wildly their
iron horses behaved.
They all had one thing in common: all of them were customers of one of the local
services known as Texas Auto Center; the most popular difficulties were complete
failure of the cars to start or, what was even worse, random activation of the alarm
system at any moment of day and night and could only be silenced by removing the
accumulator. The same symptoms in a hundred vehicles: isn’t that weird?
An investigation took place, and what seemed to some to be a coincidence or a
widespread mechanical damage appeared to be the work of a disgruntled car service
employee-turned-hacker. A man named Omar Ramos-Lopez, who had been fired
from Texas Auto Service before, wanted to take revenge on his ex-employer by
hacking into the administrative web base and thus gaining remote control of customer
cars.
In addition to creating inconvenience for the customers and black PR for the car
service, Ramos-Lopez, who was eventually arrested, unintentionally demonstrated
how vulnerable are modern computerized cars for motivated hackers.
Even though the attack of the mechanic-turned-hacker gained international popularity, his intrusion was rather primitive as compared to the possibilities subsequently
discussed in a number of US universities. In 2010, researchers from the Washington University and the California University in San Diego demonstrated that
they could hack computer systems controlling vehicles and control such systems
remotely. Everything, from breaks to operation of furnace and car radio, could be
controlled by intruders. Researchers from Rutgers University and the University
of South Carolina also demonstrated the possibility of intercepting signals sent by
261
3.5.2 New Type of Threats—Car Viruses
Let us use a specific example to demonstrate how the development of cybertechnologies jeopardizes security of a modern vehicle crammed with electronics.
In the past, car viruses were extremely rare, as the car mechanic was the only
person capable of infecting a car through a connected computer or by means of
software used for car diagnostics. Since then, times have changed; however, these
changes are far from positive.
America. Texas. 2010. Over 100 Texan car owners faced extremely unusual problems related to their cars. The most easily impressed ones of the affected car owners
even decided that their vehicles were possessed by demons; this is how wildly their
iron horses behaved.
They all had one thing in common: all of them were customers of one of the local
services known as Texas Auto Center; the most popular difficulties were complete
failure of the cars to start or, what was even worse, random activation of the alarm
system at any moment of day and night and could only be silenced by removing the
accumulator. The same symptoms in a hundred vehicles: isn’t that weird?
An investigation took place, and what seemed to some to be a coincidence or a
widespread mechanical damage appeared to be the work of a disgruntled car service
employee-turned-hacker. A man named Omar Ramos-Lopez, who had been fired
from Texas Auto Service before, wanted to take revenge on his ex-employer by
hacking into the administrative web base and thus gaining remote control of customer
cars.
In addition to creating inconvenience for the customers and black PR for the car
service, Ramos-Lopez, who was eventually arrested, unintentionally demonstrated
how vulnerable are modern computerized cars for motivated hackers.
Even though the attack of the mechanic-turned-hacker gained international popularity, his intrusion was rather primitive as compared to the possibilities subsequently
discussed in a number of US universities. In 2010, researchers from the Washington University and the California University in San Diego demonstrated that
they could hack computer systems controlling vehicles and control such systems
remotely. Everything, from breaks to operation of furnace and car radio, could be
controlled by intruders. Researchers from Rutgers University and the University
of South Carolina also demonstrated the possibility of intercepting signals sent by