I’ve always feared a "Minority Report" situation. You know, when Tom Cruise tries to make a run for it, but the bad guys are in the government so they take control of his car? They lock him inside his own car, lock all the controls and set the car to return to police headquarters. Tom is forced to kick out a window and huff it on foot in traffic.
If you’re unfamiliar with the flick, or just don’t remember, let me take you through a brief summary. It takes place in the not-so-distant future and Tom Cruise has been framed for murder. There are no passwords, no keys; you use retinal scanning for everything. To escape the system altogether Tom has to get a full eye transplant, which by the way, is not real. It’s all very dramatic, but point being that it is a dark look at remote computer control and how technology can turn on you.
Back in the real world, Chrysler is in the news because a team of professional hackers was able to remotely take control of one of their vehicles.
Tuesday, Wired Magazine released a video of Charlie Miller, a security engineer at Twitter, and Chris Valasek, the director of vehicle safety research at IOActive, remotely hacking a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Miller and Valasek were able to control the Jeep’s steering, brakes, electronic systems, door locks, windshield wipers and transmission system, disabling the driver from controlling the vehicle at all.
The attackers were able to do this through the Internet via the Jeep’s entertainment system from their laptops that could have been anywhere in the country. The hackers informed Chrysler of the vulnerability caused by the Uconnect wireless system that connects to the Sprint cellphone network.
Uconnect is installed on many of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ cars, trucks and SUVs. Chrysler has released a patch for the issue, but there are still thousands of vulnerable vehicles on the road.
In 2013 Miller and Valasek hacked a Ford Escape and a Toyota Prius from the backseat. They are continuing to do as much research as they can with their resources, but ultimately auto manufacturers need to step it up. Chrysler may be in the news today, but that doesn’t mean other manufacturers aren't having these types of issues.
In general, are we as consumers in the digital age asking for it? Many new cars now come with blind-spot detection warnings and the ability to parallel park on their own. We’ve known for some time that wireless key fobs could be hacked. They use low range radio signals and with a transmitter attached to a laptop, an antenna and an amplifier, they can be hacked and their range extended.
Jaguar Land Rover recently unveiled a prototype Range Rover Sport that could be controlled through a smartphone app — the very thing lawmakers and the media are currently seeing as a threat.
On Tuesday, Sens. Edward J. Markey and Richard Blumenthal proposed a new bill that would address the vulnerabilities created by over-connected cars. The bill calls for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to establish standards that will protect drivers’ data and secure cars.
“Rushing to roll out the next big thing, automakers have left cars unlocked to hackers and data-trackers,” said Blumenthal in a joint statement released with Markey on Tuesday. “This common-sense legislation protects the public against cybercriminals who exploit exciting advances in technology like self-driving and wireless connected cars. Federal law must provide minimum standards and safeguards that keep hackers out of drivers’ private data lanes. Security and safety need not be sacrificed for the convenience and promise of wireless progress.”
People have been able to remotely start their vehicles for years now; surely we must have seen this coming.
As a perpetually paranoid person I’m not taking any chances. I’ve already mentioned that I am not very interested in purchasing a brand new car.
But for every paranoid, annoyed with the digital age person, there is a handful of people who only care about convenience, are indifferent, or are mainly concerned with the flash and glitter of the newest tech. Some just don’t want to parallel park or they just want to show off what their new car can do. Either way, consumer demand is what has led us to this problem.
I’ll never forget driving a group of friends home one night and hearing one of them say, “I hate driving. I can’t wait until cars can just drive themselves.”
Erika Canfijn is a UF public relations senior. Her column appears on Thursdays.
[A version of this story ran on page 7 on 7/23/15]
