Songs can be used to hack cars

Some researchers studying the different methods on how to gain access to computer systems featured in modern cars have discovered that it is possible to hijack a car through its stereo – by letting the CD player read a song infected with a Trojan horse. While users listen to Trojan-infected songs, the malicious software can rewrite the firmware of the car’s stereo system to give hackers a way to access the vehicle. The scary part is that something as innocuous as a song could be used to trigger such events. And let’s not forget how easily songs can be shared and spread across file-sharing networks on the internet.

Many years ago, this wouldn’t have been a problem. But with cars becoming more reliant on a central computer for everything nowadays, more and more cars are becoming “hackable.” The good news is that, while it is possible to hijack a car through such methods, don’t expect it to happen very often – each car’s computer system is so different that for a hacker to be able to gain access to your car – he/she would specifically need to learn how to break into your car and not to mention, it won’t be an easy thing to do. Potential car hackers probably won’t be bothered to go through so much trouble, unless of course in the future, we all happen to drive cars that run on the same computer systems. Carmakers have also been reported to take such issues very seriously, so you can expect them to take counteractive measures of their own.

[image credit: infocarnivore]

George Wong
Categories: Computers, Transportation
Tags: car, Hacking, Security, transport, vehicle