remotely controlling a full size car

[bobthehobbyguy]

This article about hackers renotely controlling your car is food for thought. 

 

http://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers-remotely-kill-jeep-highway/

[blunc]

Just about any device that is capable of "wireless" communication can (and most likely will) be hacked...if your vehicle has this technology then you are potentially at risk from the bad guys and the "good" guys.

[High octane]

Seems like a LOT of vehicles are operating under remote control, as if you look at the drivers they look way to busy to be driving them.

[Joe Handley]

http://www.wired.com/2015/08/hackers-cut-corvettes-brakes-via-common-car-gadget/

 

 

 

 

[Joe Handley]

You don't even need a  Mopar with that version of uConnect to have that issue, a you have to be is stupid enough to agree to use something like Progressive's Snapshot or leave a bluetooth OBD2 dongle plugged in 24/7!

[jbwelda]

the Mercedes benz that princess Diana was killed in was one of the first fly by wire automobiles. someone beat all these modern day hackers to it. and don't write it off as a conspiracy theory just yet. as you may recall, though the driver was drunk (or at least had illegal BAC), they never found any reason why he should have crashed the vehicle like that. none. and he evidently was a very capable and loyal employee.

jb

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

the Mercedes benz that princess Diana was killed in was one of the first fly by wire automobiles. someone beat all these modern day hackers to it. and don't write it off as a conspiracy theory just yet. as you may recall, though the driver was drunk (or at least had illegal BAC), they never found any reason why he should have crashed the vehicle like that. none. and he evidently was a very capable and loyal employee.

jb

 

While there has been much speculation about the chip in the Diana-crash S280 Merc, many of the hysterical speculators (who repost and repost the same nonsense with no examination of the engineering realities) seem to have no clue as to WHAT the computer in the vehicle is actually capable of, and the fact that it's NOT capable of actually steering the car. The system varies the sensitivity of the steering, NOT the direction the car travels in, and without SIGNIFICANT additional modifications, it can't be done.

The  "drive-by-wire" system DOES run throttle control through the computer, and the application of the ABS system, as well as some other secondary "stability" functions (like limiting rear wheelspin when accelerating on slick surfaces).

In the '97 S280, acceleration could conceivably be taken over (the dreaded "unintended acceleration" syndrome ), the ABS function of the brakes could be disabled, the power steering could conceivably be made to be NOT POWER steering...but the vehicle would STILL be controllable by a competent, NON-PANICKING driver.

In the now-old Mercedes, I'd be seriously surprised if hackers could wreak havoc with onboard electronically-assisted systems beyond a simple lock-out, shut-down or refusal to start, assorted nuisance functions ...or maybe dumping the seat and navigation settings. 

Of course, an engine-shutdown or uncontrollable throttle could easily be fatal in many circumstances...given the relative lack of ability of most drivers to cope in any kind of emergency.

But today's cars idiotically have ALL the vehicle functions monitored, assisted and in some cases, overriding driver input...all this running through ONE computer network.

For YEARS, I have been vehemently opposed to the insane stupidity of routing ALL vehicle functions through ONE computer network, especially vital control and safety functions THAT SHOULD BE ISOLATED AS A STAND-ALONE SYSTEM.

When the ONE network is accessible through a wireless interface, the potential for disaster should be obvious to anyone with even the smallest intellect.

 

 

Edited August 18, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[XJ6]

the Mercedes benz that princess Diana was killed in was one of the first fly by wire automobiles. someone beat all these modern day hackers to it. and don't write it off as a conspiracy theory just yet. as you may recall, though the driver was drunk (or at least had illegal BAC), they never found any reason why he should have crashed the vehicle like that. none. and he evidently was a very capable and loyal employee.

jb

Seriously that is just plan Hog Wash ?That Driver given his speed at the time of the crash would tell me he underestimated that Mercedes at that rate of Speed and Lost Control of that Benz 

He was a Personal Driver for Diana at the time not a Professional Driver made a bad choice himself ....not some Hacker ?

Don aka XJ6 ?

[jbwelda]

he was a professional driver, for the palace. her chauffeur in other words. well versed in driving in panic situations I would imagine, including assassination attempts. any driver for an important person, then as now, knows how to handle emergency situations. I was referring to the fact there was no mechanical connection between the throttle pedal and the actual throttle on the engine induction. that was controlled by "wire" which could be hacked into (in those days things were a lot more primitive even for an advanced car like that, and it could be that some hardware had to be installed instead of an actual remote "hack" like the current examples). the fact remains: the car crashed for no evident reason with a trained, seasoned (albeit intoxicated) driver at the wheel. and just coincidentally ms Diana was just about to marry a middle eastern gentleman, bringing that outsider into the royal family...and what a mess that was going to be, politically speaking. very convenient for the problem to be solved so cleanly. considering all that, I think "what we know" is possibly very little about the situation including what could or couldn't be done to an automobile that was presumably in the care of the royal garage. though you might think Scotland yard would find evidence of tampering. oh wait...I think they work for the queen too.

its an interesting theory anyway, and I don't think it can be poo-pooed so easily, at least not by innuendo such as "hysterical speculators"...as if they know..

jb

 

[slusher]

the Mercedes benz that princess Diana was killed in was one of the first fly by wire automobiles. someone beat all these modern day hackers to it. and don't write it off as a conspiracy theory just yet. as you may recall, though the driver was drunk (or at least had illegal BAC), they never found any reason why he should have crashed the vehicle like that. none. and he evidently was a very capable and loyal employee.

jb

 

Back in the time of this crash, hacking was a seldom used word and i think Diana and the wreck will always be a theory like JFK.. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

JB, I'm not saying it's impossible for tampering with the vehicle to have occurred prior to the Diana incident.

I wouldn't make such a definitive statement unless I'd been able to do my own analysis of the vehicle systems post-crash, or had had direct access to undoctored information.

Nor am I sufficiently familiar with what IS and what IS NOT possible to hack on the '97 S280 (and from what I've read online, most of the conspiracy theorists seem know less than I do about the car).

What I'm saying is that, when I read multiple posts on multiple sites by multiple posters, and the copy is identical, copy-pasted over and over and over, it makes me really question the validity of ANY of the information offered... especially when the posters use a whole lotta !!! (the text equivalent of the overly-dramatic music background to so much of the conspiracy-theory youtube stupidity), shady but vague innuendo, and seem to have no particular knowledge of how vehicle hardware and software actually work and interface.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Ace-Garageguy

[bobthehobbyguy]

Yup there needs to be a second isolated system. Makes as much sense as putting a power plant on the internet. No system is prtfect and there are always ways to circumvent the security.

[Quick GMC]

If this type of stuff interested you, or scares you just a little, please Google Michael Hastings. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hastings_(journalist)

http://www.rt.com/usa/michael-hastings-car-neighbor-853/

http://www.occupy.com/article/exclusive-who-killed-michael-hastings

http://nymag.com/news/features/michael-hastings-2013-11/

http://www.wnd.com/2013/08/mystery-grows-in-journalists-death-prepping-obama-expose/