A recent report released by McAfee, Wind River, and systems security company Escrypt, highlights several security vulnerabilities in modern automototive electronics systems. The report entitled, Caution: Malware Ahead: An analysis of emerging risks in automotive system security, outlines several potential risks ranging from tracking a vehicle’s location using RFID tags embedded in tires to remotely disabling critical systems via Bluetooth.
Researchers at the University of California and the University of Washington demonstrated how critical safety components of a vehicle can be hacked if physical access to the vehicle’s electronic components inside the passenger cabin is available.
According the the report, “The proof-of-concept software, which they dubbed ‘CarShark,’ was developed using homemade software and a standard computer port. The scientists figured out how to hack into a modern car using a laptop. Recently, the same research team extended the scenario to remotely mount attacks via Bluetooth. This demonstration supports the need to consider the future security implications of embedded devices in cars and conveniences such as mobile phones, GPS, and Bluetooth.”
The report goes on to state, “Frost and Sullivan estimates that cars will require 200 million to 300 million lines of software code in the near future. The increasing feature set, interconnectedness with other embedded systems, and cellular networking or Internet connectivity can also introduce security flaws that may become exploitable.”
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