The "most technologically advanced car" tag in the world did not save Tesla from the clutches of hackers. It actually made matter worse since that title was what drew the "culprits" into its Model S car. Another staged hacking was perpetrated by security experts, Kevin Mahaffey and Marc Rogers, in the tradition of a previous stunt pulled to make a security point for Wired magazine. This time, the hackers undertook the attack on the Tesla vehicle - all for the sake of research.
"We shut the car down when it was driving initially at a low speed of five miles per hour. All the screens go black, the music turns off and the handbrake comes on, lurching it to a stop," said Rogers detailing the successful hacking on vehicle's software system in a Reuters report. Mahaffey and Rogers did not mention whether they had the capability to drive the Model S into a ditch like the similar hacking incident that sent a Jeep Cherokee speeding pell mell in a St. Louis highway before unceremoniously dumping it into one.
But the implication is certainly there.
The hackers explained that they exploited a computer flaw in the system, by infecting it with malware. The resulting security breach left the car open to the hackers, who then seized control remotely, CNN reported. The details of the hacking will be unveiled at the Def Con hacker conference this week, the Wall Street Journal learned.
In response to the recent events, Tesla scrambled to come up with a patch that would address the identified vulnerability. In fairness to the automaker, it actually introduced several security upgrades to prevent breaches after the hacking of the Jeep Cherokee several days ago. Unfortunately, Mahaffey and Rogers outwitted those measures by targeting the car's entertainment system.
