Yikes

Hacker stories that come a little closer to home:
“When you lose faith that a car will do what you tell it to do,” he adds after we jump out of the SUV, “it really changes your whole view of how the thing works.”
H/t Bookworm Room (guest host Earl).

7 comments:

Grim said...

The problem with riding a horse is that the horse has a mind of his own, and sometimes may do what his prey-animal brain wants instead of what you're telling him. This is a similar problem, except the car's brain may be controlled by someone who actually hates you.

No computers on my motorcycle, though.

E Hines said...

At least you understand the horse to a large degree, as well as his body language, and so you have some warning.

That isn't available with hackers.

The good news is that these guys are pikers, and behind the times. Others are working on more sophisticated hacks that allow interruption, if not control, of your car via its Bluetooth connection--from 30' away. I'll get worried, rather than just irritated, at the...inconvenience...when they can hack my car's on/off switch.

Eric Hines

Eric Blair said...

Whole thing is overated, as who 'just hacks cars'?

Now if you are a specific target, then you got worries, but then you'd have worries anyway.

E Hines said...

What was the specific target in the Towers? In the power grid disruption, or the water flows disruption, or etc?

The target is FUD in the public's mind, and in the minds of such leadership as might exist.

It won't be a car or two that will be hacked, it'll be messes of them, in conjunction with other disruptions. If lots of people die in the process, that's because the deaths are part of the FUD generation, not a goal in itself.

Of course, the upside of such an event is that it will be an additional opportunity for such leadership as might exist to claim anew that the system worked.

Eric Hines

Eric Blair said...

You are mixing a whole lotta stuff there, pops.

The towers were the specific target.

And despite the apocalypse porn that everybody seems to be addicted to, I've yet to see any power grid disruption or water supply disruption that didn't occur as a result of weather.

And you obviously haven't thought through the simple logistics of hacking lots of cars, all at once.

They are not radio controlled toys.


E Hines said...

Or you're misunderstanding the situation. The Towers were a tool, not a target. The target was FUD in the public and the leadership.

Hacking lots of cars is easy-peasy, once the software is written. APs are a dime a dozen, and I'm limited to Bluetooth's 30 ft radius only if I'm willing to honor the 802.15 standard.

As for power and water grids, Stuxnet has shown the way. And yes, that is pretty extreme porn.

Eric Hines

Eric Blair said...

If the attack on the world trade center was to induce FUD in the public and the leadership, it failed miserably.

And hacking cars is going to be 'easy-peasy'? Why isn't anybody doing it then? You are scaring yourself, pops.

And again, Stuxnet has shown any "way". You can be pretty sure at this point Siemens closed whatever hole it took advantage of in the first place.

This meme of random attacks on everything and everybody is the stuff of paranoia.