The Future Belongs To 2002 Astrovans

Hackers kill engine of moving Jeep on highway in security demo http://t.co/Yb3QPQVByv pic.twitter.com/iqnx3W55dn

— CBC News (@CBCNews) July 22, 2015

19 Replies to “The Future Belongs To 2002 Astrovans”

I will believe it when I see it from a reputable source. It would be very easy to rig a vehicle to remotely shut it down.

Like the gal in comments said…..Jeeps do that on their own.

Gord, the CBC got it from here…
http://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers-remotely-kill-jeep-highway/
Your tax dollars at work, scouring the internet for other people’s articles…
An old Mercedes-Benz with mechanical fuel injection is looking better and better to me.

As a great Canadian will say in the distant future:
“The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain.”

I read the Wired article. From a mechanical standpoint, I fail to see how they could disable the brakes. There should still be a basic hydraulic brake system underlying the power assist and anti-lock systems. Hacking the power assist, or hacking the anti-lock should not disable the brakes entirely.
Since it appears that the hackers provided the car for the demo, I’m still prepared to believe that the car was rigged to be hacked.
Granted, a car that has its entire on-board operating system accessible to the Internet is a stupid idea, and I would never own one.

Tell me again why self-driving cars is a good idea, minuteman?

See, I thought that when the internet first came into being: “Nobody would be so stupid as to hook a power plant up to this thing, would they?”

As lance and others, including myself, have pointed out repeatedly over the years here – people are pants-on-head retarded when it comes to computers generally and security specifically. Users, deployers and developers.
As a former engineering student, I used to argue vociferously with computer science types who wanted to be allowed to call themselves “software engineers”. I told them that if they were willing to be personally sued if their programs crashed or misbehaved anywhere at any time, then they could call themselves that. That generally ended the conversation.
You’ll only see computer security when software developers start losing some of theirs.

Al_in_Ottawa says “An old Mercedes-Benz with mechanical fuel injection is looking better and better to me.”
Got one in the driveway and one in the garage 😉 No I won’t part with them.

Who got the Jeep started. That’s the real story.

Anyone attempt to read the above essay of garbled English beyond the first lines by “old news”? This individual has to be a pretender with a lot of time to spare playing games.

Not just Jeep. All Chrysler products and “expert” stated all new makes by all manufacturers could be hacked.

It’s like that 12 Galaxies guy. I keep reading it and I almost think I get it, but then…no, no, it slips away again.

If they hijacked the controls why didn’t they run it through the first Proglodyte protest they passed?
69 GMC 1/2 ton looks better than ever.

‘Drive-by-wire’ systems are the new big thing in the top levels of motorsport these days. As more of this stuff like servo-driven brakes and more advanced traction control trickles down to our street cars, this is only going to get worse methinks.

“I will believe it when I see it from a reputable source.”
Define “reputable”, Gord. You think you’re going to see this in the paper?
This is -old- news, my friend. If you have a car newer than 2010, and you have a Sirius satellite system, then your car is wide freaking open to attack from a number of hacks demonstrated for AT LEAST THE LAST THREE YEARS at Black Hat conferences around the world.
Shutting off the engine is the least that can be done. How about locking the left front tire, using the ABS system. It can be done. It has been done. A lot. By a bunch of college students. They steered a Murano through a bunch of cones using the brakes and the power shifting differentials.
This is not done by guys working for the manufacturers, who have all the documentation and the source code and the keys to the kingdom. This kids screwing around. Imagine the FBI.
2002 minivan? Nope. they have ABS, they have fuel injection, they have air bags. An air bag is an explosive device that goes off when IT wants to, based on a computer. If it has been hacked by people with ill intent, Mr. Computer is no longer your friend.
You want to go carburetor, no ABS, no air bag. You want to be fully paranoid and ready for an EMP, mechanical fuel injection diesel. I used to have one. Somebody stole it. Who steals a piece of sh1t 1986 Ford diesel, you ask? Somebody with a brain. Try and buy one right now.

On the brakes being cut off by the hackers,I believe some of the late 90’s mini vans having their anti-lock braking systems designed to have the regular brake system being the secondary part of the ABS system…….So most vehicles were designed with the ABS added to a braking system but Mopar (in their wisdom) added the regular brakes to it…….This meant when the ABS module failed( Dodge owners can be heard Canada wide groaning) the entire brake system went down.This was before the electronics packed to the gills as on newer vehicles e.g.: the Jeep in the article.