• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

What do you think of this? (1 Viewer)

MaggieD

MaggieD

DP Veteran
Joined
Jul 9, 2010
Messages
43,244
Reaction score
44,665
Location
Chicago Area
Gender
Female
Political Leaning
Moderate
Two well-known computer software hackers plan to publicly release this week a veritable how-to guide for driving two widely owned automobiles haywire.
Click to expand...
According to Reuters, Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek will release the findings -- as well as related software -- at the Def Con hacking convention in Las Vegas, showing how to manipulate a Toyota Prius and Ford Escape.

The research, conducted with the aid of a grant from the U.S. government, can alternately force a Prius to brake at 80 mph, veer quickly and dramatically, or accelerate, all without the driver’s prompting. The two hackers have also reportedly figured out a way to disable a Ford Escape’s brakes while the vehicle is traveling at “very low speeds,” no matter how hard the driver attempts to stop.


In both cases, the would-be hacker would have to be inside the car in order to tamper with its computer, according to Reuters.


Read more: Hackers plan to offer blueprint for taking over Prius, Escape | Fox News
Click to expand...


Thoughts?
 
Well they aren't bad hackers. The fact that they will make these problems known gives the company a chance to make things right. By leaving these problems unaddressed, the company is basically putting it's customers at risk, since their cars can be hijacked by a cracker with bad intentions.

So good on them. Ford and Toyota should offer these people a reward for finding these problems and raising awareness on them. Now all they need to do is get their asses of their couch and start fixing the problem.
 
If they can do it others can do it. I am inclined to think that making the hack public will force car manufacturers to do something about it.
 
My guess is it would harm OnStar most since people would assume that would be the only way someone could hack into their car. I really don't like the idea of computer controlled braking systems. That is the one thing I would want foolproof.
 
My thoughts are that the engineers that designed and build these systems are aware of this and have released this shoddy work to the market. It shouldn't be possible outside of a direct wire connect and anyone who is allowing a passenger to wire connect to the car's systems while driving or anywhere outside authorized maintenance deserves whatever bad things ensue.
 
This isn't the same hacker who could stop pace-makers at 30 ft.?
 
Daily News America - Breaking national news, video, and photos - Homepage - NY Daily News

"Award winning Journalist Michael Hastings Killed in Car Crash."



(Sorry, haven't yet figured out how to cut and paste on my IPad. The article is in there somewhere). Witnesses said he was driving like no one had ever seen him drive before, failure to brake, speeding far beyond what the road conditions would allow. This is the guy who brought down General Stanley McChrystal.
 
Last edited:
clownboy said:
My thoughts are that the engineers that designed and build these systems are aware of this and have released this shoddy work to the market. It shouldn't be possible outside of a direct wire connect and anyone who is allowing a passenger to wire connect to the car's systems while driving or anywhere outside authorized maintenance deserves whatever bad things ensue.
Click to expand...
Pretty much my thinking as well. And, they never would have addressed it had nobody brought it to the light of day.
 
Ray410 said:
Daily News America - Breaking national news, video, and photos - Homepage - NY Daily News

"Award winning Journalist Michael Hastings Killed in Car Crash."



(Sorry, haven't yet figured out how to cut and paste on my IPad. The article is in there somewhere). Witnesses said he was driving like no one had ever seen him drive before, failure to brake, speeding far beyond what the road conditions would allow. This is the guy who brought down General Stanley McChrystal.
Click to expand...

The fact that it happened at 4 AM certainly makes drunk driving a suspicion. That he was traveling at a high rate of speed? I'd like to know what kind of car he was driving. If it was a Lexus? He could have ignored a recall warning (or the previous owner may have ignored it) and it may have been caused by the mat sliding under the gas pedal and wedging it to "Vroom". (More likely to be under-the-influence, if I had to WAG.)

Since he was alone in the car, and since the article I read says someone has to be IN the car in order to take control, it's not likely to have had anything to do with that.
 
Which comes to my irk with automobiles being SO automated.

Steering and brakes being applied shouldn't be manipulated by anything other than the driver - ever.
 
give the info to Ford and Toyota, and make a public statement that the information has been given to the corporations. showing people how to do it is overkill.
 
Computers in cars. Idiotic.
 
Cardinal said:
So they have to actually be in the car in order for the hacks to work? What kind of people would do this?
Click to expand...

They're researchers.
 
MaggieD said:
The fact that it happened at 4 AM certainly makes drunk driving a suspicion. That he was traveling at a high rate of speed? I'd like to know what kind of car he was driving. If it was a Lexus? He could have ignored a recall warning (or the previous owner may have ignored it) and it may have been caused by the mat sliding under the gas pedal and wedging it to "Vroom". (More likely to be under-the-influence, if I had to WAG.)

Since he was alone in the car, and since the article I read says someone has to be IN the car in order to take control, it's not likely to have had anything to do with that.
Click to expand...

You probably already know this, since you own a Lexus, but don't forget Toyota makes Lexus. If a Toyota is hackable, a Lexus probably would be, too.
 
Rainman05 said:
Well they aren't bad hackers. The fact that they will make these problems known gives the company a chance to make things right. By leaving these problems unaddressed, the company is basically putting it's customers at risk, since their cars can be hijacked by a cracker with bad intentions.

So good on them. Ford and Toyota should offer these people a reward for finding these problems and raising awareness on them. Now all they need to do is get their asses of their couch and start fixing the problem.
Click to expand...

Why show the public how to do it? Why not just report it to Ford and Toyota?

Oh, and I guarantee you, some very bright but senseless hack will one up and find a way to do it wirelessly by the end of the week.
 
Occam's Razor said:
Why show the public how to do it? Why not just report it to Ford and Toyota?

Oh, and I guarantee you, some very bright but senseless hack will one up and find a way to do it wirelessly by the end of the week.
Click to expand...

Not all hackers are malicious; some like Chris are on the good side. The flaws hackers find help improve technology.
 
greyhat said:
Not all hackers are malicious; some like Chris are on the good side. The flaws hackers find help improve technology.
Click to expand...

Doesn't take all hackers, most... or even some... it just takes one. And they're probably not acting on malicious intent, just not thinking about broader potential consequences and focusing on the one up...
 
Occam's Razor said:
Why show the public how to do it? Why not just report it to Ford and Toyota?

Oh, and I guarantee you, some very bright but senseless hack will one up and find a way to do it wirelessly by the end of the week.
Click to expand...

Hey Occam, you're not the one who discovered that these cars can be taken over by ill-intentioned people and used however they want.
Now I don't know why they went public, but if you owned one of those cars, you'd want to know if your life is in danger. So they did the right thing. Public pressure will force these companies to do the right thing, regardless of cost, as soon as they are able.
 
Rainman05 said:
Hey Occam, you're not the one who discovered that these cars can be taken over by ill-intentioned people and used however they want.
Now I don't know why they went public, but if you owned one of those cars, you'd want to know if your life is in danger. So they did the right thing. Public pressure will force these companies to do the right thing, regardless of cost, as soon as they are able.
Click to expand...

Ya, I can see your point... but I tend to think there are a lot more people with ill intent than would otherwise have this knowledge. Follow me? Both companies could have emailed their customers just as easily and let them know what was up.

So what do you think the lag time will be between tens of thousands of, at best mischievous, at worst malicious, persons having this information and the car companies actually getting a fix designed and then distributed to the customers?

So now we'll have a nation full of neurotic soccer moms freaking out at every little "strange thing" their Ford is doing... or not doing...

Nope, this was a "get the spotlight" moment. Careers in hacking are made on this stuff. It was self promotion and undeserved self aggrandizement. imho
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top Bottom