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.

Related Content

  • The free and open internet is dead
    June 25, 2018
    A key US vote may have changed what internet service providers are allowed to charge and how they restrict content: Joe Dysart explains why this has consequences for ITS companies. While most people were rushing around last December, grabbing last-minute gifts for the holidays, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to drive a stake into the heart of the free and open internet. In a majority vote, the agency killed ‘net neutrality’ - a policy that has prevented your regional internet service
  • Heavy cost of car safety systems gives buyers pause
    September 11, 2013
    New research by Frost and Sullivan finds that constant technological innovations in automotive safety warrant frequent updates to legislation. With the number of fatalities and injuries on the rise, legislative authorities in Europe are taking a keen interest in the safety of pedestrians, passengers and drivers. This enhanced focus on safety has far-reaching ramifications for the automotive industry.
  • New vehicle technologies ‘could help reduce fatalities on European motorways’
    March 5, 2015
    New safety technologies could play a major role in reducing the numbers killed on European motorways, according to the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), in a new report published today. The new analysis of developments in motorway safety shows that, despite recent progress, around 1,900 were killed on motorways in the EU in 2013. The report cites figures from several countries showing that up to 60 per cent of those killed in motorway collisions were not wearing a seatbelt. It calls on the EU to req
  • MaaS must be seamless and invisible - or forget it
    June 5, 2018
    MaaS experts from around the world converged on ITS International’s MaaS Market Atlanta conference to talk about how MaaS can be implemented in the US. Andrew Bardin Williams had a front row seat. Transportation experts from around the world gathered in the US earlier this month to discuss the future of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and how it could be deployed in the US market. While most attendees at ITS International’s MaaS Market Atlanta conference were familiar with the MaaS concept, the US’s highly