Two hackers have demonstrated a security vulnerability of a modern car by taking over a 2014 Jeep Cherokee over the Internet. In the demonstration, hackers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek remotely took over the Jeep being driven by a Wired reporter. The hackers were able to shut down the car’s transmission, deactivate its brakes, and control its steering. Miller is a security engineer at Twitter, and Valasek is director of vehicle safety research at consultancy IOActive.
They were able to break into the car’s control system via its Uconnect cellular connection. After accessing the car’s infotainment system, they rewrote the code on one of its chips. This gave them access to the car’s computer network, which controls the engine and other driving components. Anyone who knows the car’s IP address can gain access to its controls, according to the researchers. The pair ranked the Jeep Cherokee as the most vulnerable to hacking, followed by the Cadillac Escalade and Infiniti Q50.
The hackers have shared their findings with Chrysler, which has issued a fix for the problem. Up to 471,000 vehicles may be vulnerable, according to the hackers. The company urged owners of the affected cars to update their software from via https://www.driveuconnect.com/software-update/
The affected vehicles are:the cars below that have a 8.4 inch touchscreen radio system:
- 2013-2014 Ram 1500 Pickup
- 2013-2014 Ram 3500 Cab Chassis
- 2013-2014 Ram 2500 Pickup
- 2013-2014 Ram 4500/5500 Cab Chassis
- 2013-2014 Ram 3500 Pickup
- 2014 Grand Cherokee
- 2014 Durango
- 2013-2014 Viper
- 2014 Cherokee
- Some 2015 Chrysler 200s
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