Some white hat hackers took control of a Jeep Grand Cherokee’s brakes and throttle remotely, like 8 years ago. The only reason to have WiFi or cell service on a vehicle is to let the government kill you lol
Connected cars can be hacked, research finds
Submitted 2 hours ago by Valnao@sh.itjust.works to technology@lemmy.world
https://news.northeastern.edu/2026/02/18/connected-cars-hacking-research/
Comments
brownsugga@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
PancakesCantKillMe@lemmy.world 38 minutes ago
There was also an investigative reporter driving a Mercedes who died in an odd accident in SoCal in and around then. It was suspicious, but swept away quickly in the news. I remember believing that he was murdered.
cm0002@lemy.lol 1 hour ago
Oh yea, I loved that white paper that came out for that because it gave me what I needed to “jailbreak” my old Jeep’s u connect and mod the shit out of it lol
nyan@lemmy.cafe 2 hours ago
Is anyone actually surprised by this? It’s one of those things that any semi-competent programmer could have told you would be the case. The study just formalizes it and adds specifics.
shininghero@pawb.social 1 hour ago
I mean, yeah? You give anything a connection to a global network with billions of people, and there will always be a chance for it to be exploited. Hell, even my personal OpenVPN instance for remotely accessing my home servers has to fend off attacks.
This is why my next vehicle will be a slate truck. Zero internet connectivity by default, and updates can be done via USB-C from a phone (which can be vetted as needed).
pennomi@lemmy.world 57 minutes ago
The whole internet of things was a mistake. I say that as one of the biggest tech enthusiasts I know.
Secure software is mathematically possible, but secure engineering is mathematically improbable.
orclev@lemmy.world 26 minutes ago
Internet of Things is a terrible no good idea, but Intranet of Things has some potential. Entirely local mesh networks like Zigbee and Z-wave solve most of your problems, doubly so if you properly confine their controllers into their own non Internet routable subnets.
It’s honestly my biggest complaint with the Matter standard, it has Internet bridging baked into the design while the prior standards made that completely optional.
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
While I’m not surprised, it’s important that empirical research be done and published. It’s needed to bolster calls for regulation. Not that I, for one second, think we’ll get any meaningful regulation out of this in most countries.
Our best bet, as always, is to limit our technologies’ access to the internet as much as we can tolerate. Cars, doorbells, and refrigerators have no business connecting to the internet at all.
confusedwiseman@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 hour ago
I’m heavily conflicted …. I agree, but I really want to not need to agree. A door bell connected to the internet is extremely useful. Current implementations are a nightmare though.
But if it could be secure, private, and the technology actually served the individual in physical proximity “owner” it would be awesome!
I had a car with its own internet connection for a while, I could check my windows were rolled up from my phone, start it from anywhere, get alerts on fuel levels or oil change intervals…. BUT telemetry was used in evil ways against me.
A connected fridge that didn’t spy on you, show ads, or be designed to fail could be really useful. But we know the “business” behind this makes it consumer hostile.
Heck, my washer and dryer wanted to connect to WiFi and it COULD be useful to get an alert on your phone when it’s done but you’re not in its immediate proximity. But we all know giving this thing internet will be a net loss no matter what.
Smart tvs could be neat in concept, but we all know they’re little corporate spys. Watch out for these, especially Roku is apparently requiring internet connectivity for initial setup. Oh, and this is the company that’s got a patent to identify when an hdmi input is paused so they can inject ads.
I’m sad because technology is so cool and should have served us to make life easier. Instead, it has killed the joy. FOSS is helping revive the passion in technology.
So many things should be possible, but “people” went and ruined it for everyone.
hector@lemmy.today 1 hour ago
They will make it illegal to remove it from the internet, I think it long has been illegal to remove the onstar and that was a long time ago, but not sure it’s been 20 years since I think I learned that after seeing a sopranos episode where they paid someone to remove it from their new car.
ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 hours ago
Remotely enabling heating/cooling of my car so it’s ready when I get to it is just so god damn nice. This is only possible with internet connection, if it’s limited by keyfob range to the vehicle then it may as well not exist.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 1 hour ago
They were hacking cars with any kind of computer in them and even able to remotely control some newer models at the time when I was in high school. 20 years down the road, car makers have not done any for security against such hacks, and also have more computerization.
hector@lemmy.today 1 hour ago
From what I’ve been reading, not only is this the least of what hackers can do, but it’s with any new vehicles. The CIA developed all sorts of hacking tools for cars I hear tell, that were revealed in the snowden leaks, and that was 15 years ago, that they can take control of the gas, brakes, and steering regardless of your controlls in the vehicle.
It’s not just academic either, 60 minutes a few years ago got a new vehicle in a parking lot and paid a hacker to take control in a parking lot and he got it to disregard their steering and braking and gas pedal.
There are a couple of suspicious deaths people think are from hacked vehicles causing accidents, Guiffre in Australia is one.
edgemaster72@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
If it beep-boops we can hack it
Ancalagon@lemmy.world 1 hour ago
Those are features not bugs. They are bombs on wheels.
carotte@lemmy.blahaj.zone 49 minutes ago
if it’s a computer, it can be hacked
if it’s connected to the internet, it doubly can be hacked!