I’m sure you’ve seen the same programs and movies I have. A hacker garners control of a vehicle through its entertainment system (and, thusly the Apple Siri’s or Google Assistant’s AI [artificial intelligence]) and directs it through a maze of streets. I’ve already reported how commercial jets can be commandeered.
Right now, those older infotainment systems are, thankfully, not adept enough to issue such commands. But, imagine how much easier that task would be as car manufacturers and component vendors integrate their products with Alexa and/or Google Home. There already are many known exploits such as BlueBorne, which is effective against the (Amazon) Echo, (Google) Home, or any car with Bluetooth connectivity.
Sure, that association (Bluetooth connectivity) harbors dreams of hands-free convenience. But it really presents us with the nightmares of being hacked, tracked,or even to be blasted by annoying music. OK. Being drenched because a dweeb opened our car windows in the rain is annoying, but opening our doors to allow a thief to empty our cars- or, worse yet, to rob us at gunpoint with no ability to zoom away, are just as likely consequences.
After all, Alexa is designed to interact with a slew of IoT (Internet of Things) units. Door locks, lights, security systems- they’re all within its wheelhouse. And the car vendors are lapping up the capabilities- or susceptibilities. And, these controls are effected from one’s home or office to the vehicle.
Sure, Alexa recognizes voices, but that’s no biometric security for our vehicles! And hackers already can spy on our IoT devices (including Alexa and Home) to learn and commandeer a PIN command to control our vehicles.
And while we don’t hear ultrasound, our devices can and do respond to them. So we won’t know if or when such commands are issued to ,is direct our vehicles.
Or, as vehicle manufacturers integrate car-to-home connectivity, how secure will our homes be as hackers issue commands to open our garage doors, disarm our security systems, engage our light switches? Right now, Ford (just one vendor) assuages our fears that parking attendants can’t rob our homes by requiring both the vehicle and our linked smartphone to both be present. (Don’t leave your phone in the car!!!!) But, that doesn’t stop the hacker from running commands as we are driving our cars (meaning both the car’s AI and our smartphones are present). Or, by examining our location, can set us up to be robbed in person, simply by lowering the windows and unlocking the doors at a traffic light.
Not to mention having our purchases (from our smartphone and/or Alexa data) and driving habits let a criminal know which vendors accept purchases via linked credit cards, when we are far from devices where we would be notified of these intrusions.
And, as vendors incorporate speech technology into these car controls (think ‘My Friend Cayla”, with its internet search, Google Translate, and voice technology), just imagine the havoc that could be wrought?
Alexa, where’s my Mustang? What happened to all my furniture?
P.S. We’ll finish up this mini-series on IoT on Monday. Have a great weekend.
I haven’t been able to settle in and read your series. This interests me greatly for many reasons, among them own its dot, which my son has asked me more than once to get rid of. I’ll be back!
Alana recently posted..Mad Sunset – #SkywatchFriday
Hope you learn what you need to know, Alana!
I would never have thought of these scary possibilities were it not for you, Roy! And I sure am glad for the warning!! You have a great weekend, too. 🙂
Forewarned is forearmed, Jeanine! Let’s see if they start fixing the problem at the design stage.
i have seen that show too – the one where your smart car is controlled.. 🙂
and am glad for my toyota camry non-smart model…
as for now, happy to learn about, read out, and marvel at how cool technology can be..using it – in that near future you mention
LadyInRead recently posted..weaving words under a blue moon
As long as they start to include security into the IoT universe, I’m in, too, Vidya. Otherwise, I’ll be (unusual for me) a very, very, very late adopter.
Uh oh! The brave new world of everything attached to the internet all of the time is starting to look… ominous!
It’s been looking that way to me for a long time, Alice. It’s why I (who is normally a first adopter) has a home and office remarkedly devoid of such objects.
Jeez.. very scary indeed. I already get annoyed at how many patches and updates have to be done to constantly try and stay one step ahead of the hackers. Maybe there is such a thing as too much technology 🙂 .
As a techie, I say no. But, as a techie- and a citizen- I say it’s more than high time to demand these vendors design security into their devices. No one would buy a car if everyone had the same key to start it up. Why is it ok for these devices. (It may be a good time now to tell you that I had a 1996 Chrysler New Yorker and my (ex) wife has a 1992 Grand Voyager. And, on one day, we found out that our keys worked on each other’s cars. Because she took mine (keys, not car) by accident.)
I think I’ll stick to the old fashion keys. LOL We were in a parking lot the other day and was parked next to a Tesla. As the owner approached, he said “open trunk” and it popped open!
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Now you know how to get some new stuff, Martha. Open Trunk, it is!
Hello,
This is the perfect info for someone that is struggling with coming up with new and different ways to present content as well as create new content. Can you say burn out???? Yes, but now with this info-graphic I have got close to a dozen ideas to implement that will make life SO much easier.
Thank you!