Skip to main content

Jeep hackers return to remotely hack Cherokee’s digital systems

Just a year after they caused Chrysler to recall 1.4 million Jeep Cherokee vehicles after showing how they could remotely hijack a jeep’s digital systems over the internet, Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek are back to show how it could get worse. In the 2015 attack, they first toyed with the vehicle’s air conditioning, entertainment system and windscreen wipers, before cutting the transmission and causing the jeep to slowly come to a halt. At the Black Hat USA 2016 conference this week the two automot
August 4, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
RSSJust a year after they caused 1958 Chrysler to recall 1.4 million Jeep Cherokee vehicles after showing how they could remotely hijack a jeep’s digital systems over the internet, Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek are back to show how it could get worse.

In the 2015 attack, they first toyed with the vehicle’s air conditioning, entertainment system and windscreen wipers, before cutting the transmission and causing the jeep to slowly come to a halt.

At the Black Hat USA 2016 conference this week the two automotive cybersecurity researchers will outline new methods of cyber attack against the same Jeep Cherokee they hacked last year.

According to Miller and Valasek, hackers usually inject CAN messages on to the vehicle's network. However, there are often many limitations on what actions the vehicle can be forced to perform when injecting CAN messages. While an attacker may be able to easily change the speedometer while the car is driving, he may not be able to disable the brakes or turn the steering wheel unless the car he is driving meets certain prerequisites, such as travelling below a certain speed.

In their presentation, they plan to discuss how physical, safety critical systems react to injected CAN messages and how these systems are often resilient to this type of manipulation.

They will also outline new methods of CAN message injection which can bypass many of these restrictions and demonstrate the results on the braking, steering, and acceleration systems of an automobile. They end by suggesting ways these systems could be made even more robust in future vehicles.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Securing V2X communications
    June 6, 2016
    Cybersecurity developments are moving fast in the automotive sector, but they’re a significant hurdle for the roll-out of C-ITS applications. Jon Masters reports. In the wake of the high-profile hacking of the Jeep Cherokee and problems like the flaw in the Nissan Leaf’s companion app that could compromise the security of data about recent journeys, initiatives linked to vehicle cybersecurity seem to be moving rapidly.
  • Bluetooth real time traffic information on trial in New Zealand
    July 12, 2016
    New Zealand companies HMI Technologies and rental car company GO Rentals are trialling a real time traffic information system in 50 rental cars travelling between Christchurch and Queenstown. RouteTIP roadside beacons send simple, location-specific messages to the hands-free RouteTIP app on the user’s smartphone to provide drivers with information on hazards and traffic congestion ahead, alerts about road conditions, reminders of speed restrictions, journey time information and much more.
  • Comprehensive review of distracted driving research released
    April 18, 2012
    The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) in the US has released the first comprehensive overview summarising distracted driving research for state officials. The report considered research from more than 350 scientific papers published between 2000 and 2011.
  • Ertico weaves tunnel visions into the ‘big picture’
    April 7, 2017
    As he takes the wheel at Ertico - ITS Europe, Jacob Bangsgaard talks to ITS International about the challenges and opportunities facing the organisation and the ITS industry. Ertico - ITS Europe’s new CEO, Jacob Bangsgaard, is no stranger to the organisation having spent five years there before moving to the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) in 2006. Four years later he became director general of the FIA’s Region I (EMEA), which represents more than 100 mobility clubs, and in 2012 he joined Er