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REAL LIFE NEWS: HACKING CARS WITH AN MP3 PLAYER

by Hazed

Your car could be taken over by an MP3 player. Researchers at the US Center for Automotive Embedded Systems Security showed recently that the computer systems in a car can be hacked by using the on-board diagnostics port, which is an access point usually used by engineers to download data about how well the car is running.

By hacking into the car's software they were able to disable the brakes, turn the engine on and off, and control electrical systems such as the lights, radio and locks.

The trick was to embed some MP3 files with malicious code. This then installed itself onto the car stereo. From there it was possible to control other features in the car.

In some cases they were even able to do these things remotely, using a cell phone's Bluetooth connection.

I guess it would make a good excuse if you're caught speeding: it wasn't me, it was my MP3 player!

Source: http://weinterrupt.com/2011/03/can-a-cell-phone-or-an-mp3-player-be-used-to-hack-your-car/

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