On June 11th, 2024, we discovered a set of vulnerabilities in Kia vehicles that allowed remote control over key functions using only a license plate. These attacks could be executed remotely on any hardware-equipped vehicle in about 30 seconds, regardless of whether it had an active Kia Connect subscription.
Why does a car need to be connected to the internet? A reliable rule of conduct in aeronautics is that systems which are deemed critical to safety are air gapped from the systems which are connected to the internet, so in the event that those systems are compromised by malware or hackers, the safety critical systems won’t also be compromised.
Why is it seemingly taking automotive manufacturers so long to catch on to this principle? Before anyone mentions downloadable features, I do not see that as a means of justification. Like with videogames, if you’re paying good money for a product, that product should already be finished by release. Hiding content that should already exist on a car is egregious and the normalisation of it incentivizes manufacturers to release vehicles that are incomplete and should not have been released in their current state.
This is my car, I have a stereo with entertainment features. My mileage, drive time, fuel economy, and anything related to the systems of the car, shows up on a separate display strip. To the best of my knowledge, the stereo cannot control the car in any way. Its just there to play music for me. I dread the day I have to replace this car. I may just buy an old pre-telemetry 4x4. The roads around here have gotten too bad for a hatchback anyway.
Yup, that’s how it should be across the board. That’s how it is with modern airliners. The redundancy of having each system be controlled by multiple computers is nullified if a hacker can get to control all of them, including the ones which are safety critical, just by hacking one. I honestly don’t blame you, I love the internet but there really are situations where something really doesn’t need to be connected to the internet.
Why does a car need to be connected to the internet? A reliable rule of conduct in aeronautics is that systems which are deemed critical to safety are air gapped from the systems which are connected to the internet, so in the event that those systems are compromised by malware or hackers, the safety critical systems won’t also be compromised.
Why is it seemingly taking automotive manufacturers so long to catch on to this principle? Before anyone mentions downloadable features, I do not see that as a means of justification. Like with videogames, if you’re paying good money for a product, that product should already be finished by release. Hiding content that should already exist on a car is egregious and the normalisation of it incentivizes manufacturers to release vehicles that are incomplete and should not have been released in their current state.
This is my car, I have a stereo with entertainment features. My mileage, drive time, fuel economy, and anything related to the systems of the car, shows up on a separate display strip. To the best of my knowledge, the stereo cannot control the car in any way. Its just there to play music for me. I dread the day I have to replace this car. I may just buy an old pre-telemetry 4x4. The roads around here have gotten too bad for a hatchback anyway.
Yup, that’s how it should be across the board. That’s how it is with modern airliners. The redundancy of having each system be controlled by multiple computers is nullified if a hacker can get to control all of them, including the ones which are safety critical, just by hacking one. I honestly don’t blame you, I love the internet but there really are situations where something really doesn’t need to be connected to the internet.