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March 14, 2005
Speculative Fiction: CNET Reports on Car Viruses that Might Happen, Someday
The rumor that Lexus vehicles were infected with a computer virus turned out to be phony, but that didn't stop CNET from writing a story about the possibility of car-borne computer viruses.
The challenge for hackers who might want to crash your Electronic Stability System or post an obscene message on your Nav screen, is twofold.
First, while internal systems are increasingly linked, they're not all built on a single opeating system.
According to the CNET story, "Getting a virus to propagate from one system to another would be akin to designing malware that could pass from a Windows environment to a Macintosh system and on to a Linux machine--infecting them all."
Second, while there has been a rise in off-board links with Nav systems and telematics, car computers are not accessible in the always-on environment of the Internet, that makes it easy for hackers to plant spyware and pop-up window progams on your machines.
There is hope for aspiring auto-hackers, however. Microsoft has gotten into the auto software biz, in a deal with Fiat, to provide a two-way diagnstic feed via telematics.
BTW, you're not reading this on Internet Explorer, are you? [Insert Pop-up here.] Get Firefox!
Posted by Frank at March 14, 2005 8:52 AM | Filed under Auto News
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