Hacker Arrested for Remotely Disabling 100 Cars

[scannon]

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/crime/hacker-shut-down-100-cars-remotely

 

I had no idea there was a device like this around. I'd be asking a lot of questions were I buying a new car.

[MHKflyer52]

I think they (the dealer) has to disclose that the cars are being sold with that setup when someone purchases it or they can be at risk of envision of privacy laws. That is why GM provides On-Star for free for the first 12 months on new so equipped vehicles.

I am not a lawyer but I know when I purchased my Ford in 2003 the dealer had a devise plugged into the system that let the vehicle be started and test driven off the dealers lot only if a sales person was with you and had a special key fob that would activate the system and keep it activated as long as the sale person was within 25 feet of the vehicle. It also let them program the vehicle so that you could take the vehicle within a certain distance (I think it was 25 miles) for such things as having an independent inspection accomplished if the vehicle was a used vehicle.

The dealer removed the control module when the sale was finalized as it plugged into a service port under the dash. I know this because I watched them remove it (little box about the size of cell phone) and it was not the OBDII port but another connector in the wiring loom that it was plugged into. They were very proud of the fact that they had not had a car removed from their lot with out there knowledge in over 3 years due to their security system they had at the time.

[scannon]

Big (dealer) brother is watching you.