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Wireless Car Sensors Vulnerable to Hackers


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Tire-sensor hack

Equipment used to hijack a cars tire sensors included a laptop, a programmable radio transceiver, and a custom circuit board, that, together, cost around $1,500.

University of South Carolina/ Rutgers University

Hackers could "hijack" the wireless pressure sensors built into many cars' tires, researchers have found. Criminals might then track a vehicle or force its electronic control system to malfunction, the University of South Carolina and Rutgers University researchers say.

The team, which successfully hijacked two popular tire-pressure-monitoring systems (TPMS), will describe the work at the USENIX Security conference in Washington, DC, this week.

The tire-sensor attack poses little immediate risk to drivers. However, in recent months, research groups have identified other security weaknesses in vehicle electronics systems. As automakers add more powerful computers to cars, and connect those computers to critical components, in-car systems will need to be secured against hackers, experts warn.

From Technology Review
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