It’s probably a motorist’s biggest fear – driving on a highway only to suddenly lose control of the car. Seven years ago, that’s exactly what happened to Andy Greenberg in a Jeep Cherokee. The only thing was, it wasn’t unexpected – it was planned. Two white hat hackers gained remote access to the Jeep Cherokee and put it through a series of mini tests to see just what they could get it to do from afar. The fact that it was intended didn’t stop it from being a completely terrifying experience. It also pointed out some of the biggest safety flaws in modern vehicles. So what exactly happened that day, and is SUV safety better than it was in 2015?
A 2015 Jeep Cherokee was remotely hacked, with terrifying results
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In 2015, two hackers gained remote access to a Jeep Cherokee. Inside the Jeep Cherokee was Andy Greenberg, a writer with Wired magazine. The hackers, Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, were able to make the Jeep Cherokee do a whole lot of things that Greenberg had no control over. Some of these things were quite dangerous, and also point to how vulnerable the SUVs, cars and trucks we drive can be to an attack.
Some of the unintended events during the hack included drastic air conditioning changes, the radio station and volume being changed remotely, and the windshield wipers coming on, complete with windshield wiper fluid.
Even worse, Miller and Valasek eventually messed with the Jeep Cherokee’s transmission, shutting it down on the highway. This was followed by the Cherokee not being able to accelerate, a close call with a semi truck and eventually ending up on the side of the highway. This was a blow to SUV safety.
The Jeep Cherokee was intentionally hacked
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It may be surprising, but the Jeep Cherokee that Greenberg was driving was hacked on purpose. The hackers, Miller and Valasek, had spent a year researching car hacking and needed someone to test what they had learned. They had developed a code that could access Jeep Cherokees across the country with a laptop anywhere.
Other things the two hackers were able to accomplish when attacking the Cherokee remotely were “features that at lower speeds completely kill the engine, retract the brakes abruptly, or disable them completely.”
Is SUV safety better today?
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It’s been seven years since the Jeep Cherokee was famously hacked. Has it gotten any better for automotive cyber security? The answer is, sort of. There are still many risks with modern vehicles. This is thanks to the technology used for functions such as infotainment systems and also navigation systems. As our technology develops, the risks increase. It is a constantly changing situation. That’s not the only change. In addition, Miller and Valasek communicated with Jeep’s then-parent Chrysler to fix the vulnerabilities that allowed the attack. Chrysler was less than enthusiastic about the news. Still, it tried to make a repair.
There are some legislators who go through the proper channels. Some of these continue to work their way through. Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) are trying to get the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to be forthcoming about automotive cybersecurity threats as well as proactive. NHTSA has also issued a cybersecurity Best Practices for the Safety of Modern Vehicles document that outlines preventative measures and risks for today’s connected cars.
The automotive world should continue to increase the safety of modern SUVs and hopefully independent organizations like NHTSA will hold them accountable until they do. After all, no one wants to sit in an SUV that is remotely hacked.
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