Yahoo Autos Hackers Wirelessly Control Tesla Under Exceedingly Unlikely Scenario
As our cars become more connected to the internet, the threat of car hacking will continue to loom. Does that mean you should panic every time you hear about a car hack in the news? Absolutely not, because most hacks only work under exceedingly rare circumstances.
Take for example a recent hack of a Tesla. You may have heard that a group of elite Chinese security researchers, the Keen Team, managed to remotely hit the brakes on a Model S from 12 miles away. While this sort of thing should be taken seriously, the circumstances required to pull the hack off are incredibly specific.
In other words, it won't happen to you.
In order for this hack to work, the Tesla must have its web browser open, and be connected to a vulnerable Wi-Fi hotspot. Hackers can create a compromised Wi-Fi network by setting up a hotspot with an identical name to a network the car automatically connects to, like "Tesla Service."
It's not terribly difficult to do that sort of thing with a stationary car in a parking lot, but on the move? It's highly unlikely.
Keen Team is a so-called "White Hat" group, which develops hacks such as this to help create a more secure world. The team submitted the hack to Tesla, which issued a software patch within ten days. Tesla runs a Bug Bounty program that rewards independent hackers up to $10,000 for discovering vulnerabilities such as this.
This isn't as scary as last year's remote hack of a Jeep Cherokee, which exploited a vulnerability in the car's cellular network connection, allowing for a totally remote hack.
None of this said is to diminish the work of the Keen Team and other researchers like them. White Hat hackers do incredibly important work, and it's imperative for automakers like Tesla and others to take them seriously. The Keen Team is also the first group to wirelessly hack a Tesla in such a significant way, which is highly impressive.
Car hacking is something you should be aware of, but it's not something to worry about, at least not yet. We said that last year after reports of the Jeep Cherokee hack dominated the news, and we still stand by it.
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