Skip to main content

Michigan researchers show how easy it is to hack trucks

Cybersecurity researchers have already shown how easy it is to hack a Jeep Cherokee and take control of its brakes and steering, resulting in a recall for the vulnerability to be corrected. At the Usenix Workshop on Offensive Technologies conference next week, a group of University of Michigan researchers plan to demonstrate how trucks, which have also begun adding similar electronic control system, can be vulnerable to hacking. They plan to show how the openness of the SAE J1939 standard used across
August 5, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Cybersecurity researchers have already shown how easy it is to hack a 1957 Jeep Cherokee and take control of its brakes and steering, resulting in a recall for the vulnerability to be corrected.

At the Usenix Workshop on Offensive Technologies conference next week, a group of University of Michigan researchers plan to demonstrate how trucks, which have also begun adding similar electronic control system, can be vulnerable to hacking.

They plan to show how the openness of the SAE J1939 standard used across all US heavy vehicle industries gives easy access for safety-critical attacks and that these attacks aren't limited to one specific make, model, or industry.

They will test their attacks on a 2006 Class-8 semi tractor and 2001 school bus and demonstrate how simple it is to replicate the kinds of attacks used on consumer vehicles and that it is possible to use the same attack on other vehicles that use the SAE J1939 standard.

They will also show safety critical attacks that include the ability to accelerate a truck in motion, disable the driver's ability to accelerate, and disable the vehicle's engine brake. Their presentation concludes with a discussion of the possibilities of additional attacks and potential remote attack vectors.

Related Content

  • April 19, 2017
    Bosch launches automated driving initiative in China
    German automotive supplier Robert Bosch is to collaborate with Chinese internet group Baidu and map providers AutoNavi and NavInfo, in a deal that will use data collected by Bosch’s radar and video sensors in vehicles to generate and update high precision maps for automated driving. In addition, Bosch and Baidu have set up a test vehicle for partially automated driving on Chinese motorways. The vehicle, based on a Jeep Cherokee, is equipped with Bosch components, including five mid-section radar sensors and
  • July 17, 2012
    In-vehicle communication systems offer major safety benefits
    Michael Schagrin and Raymond Resendes provide an update on the US Department of Transportation's vehicle-to-vehicle programme. The US Department of Transportation's (USDOT's) Vehicle-to- Vehicle (V2V) programme, which is concerned with wireless inter-vehicle communications for safety applications such as crash avoidance/mitigation, is a major safety component of the USDOT IntelliDrive cooperative infrastructure programme.
  • July 1, 2016
    NHTSA opens investigation into fatal Tesla crash
    The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a preliminary investigation into a fatal crash involving a Tesla autonomous car in Florida. According to a Florida Highway Patrol report, the 40-year-old driver was killed when his 2015 Model S drove under the trailer of an 18-wheel truck. In a blog post on the crash, which happened in early May, Tesla said “the vehicle was on a divided highway with Autopilot engaged when a tractor trailer drove across the highway perpendicular to t
  • June 6, 2016
    Securing V2X communications
    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.