





Tim Barlass

Vulnerability: ''White hat'' hacker Jonathan Brossard.

Vulnerability: ''White hat'' hacker Jonathan Brossard. Photo: James Brickwood


If this sounds like a Hollywood plot or a Top Gear stunt, you are wrong. It can actually be done and Sydney hacker Jonathan Brossard knows how to do it.

The threat from hackers has been in the news recently, with eBay telling 145 million subscribers to change their passwords after a cyber attack and reports of Apple devices being hijacked last week.

Mr Brossard is a ''white hat'' hacker, one of the public defenders whose job is to preserve the integrity of information systems from the attention of the ''black hats''.

The security research engineer does not know of a car that has been hacked on the road but says his company does it for vehicle manufacturers in Europe.

The only way to verify that a car is not subject to cyber attack is to try to break it, fix it and try to break it again, he said.

''The vehicle is remote from me. I am sitting at the desk and I am using the computer and driving your car from another country. I am saying it is possible.

''A car is, technically speaking, very much like a cell phone and that makes it vulnerable to attack from the internet,'' he said. ''An attack is not unlikely.''

Mr Brossard acted as consultant for a video game called Watch Dogs, which was released last week and is set in Chicago. The game explores the impact of technology where everything is controlled by one computer and railways, traffic lights and energy systems are all vulnerable to the hacker.

He believes the game could stimulate interest in a world in which there is a need for more ''white hats''.

''We have come to the point where there is a massive shortage of such people,'' Mr Brossard said. ''Australia is no exception and every country in the world is pretty much in the same situation.

''We are definitely not winning the battle. Hacktackers have become better and better while defensive systems have not significantly changed.''

The murky world of hacking gets a public airing each year at the Black Hat computer security conference in Las Vegas.

At this year's conference in August he says attention will turn to an open back door allowing someone to take control of your computer remotely. He says it already infects 2 million computers worldwide, including Australian machines made by mainstream manufacturers.

6 comments so far

  • I could be mistaken here, but if someone hacked into the very most advanced car, does that mean they would have the same access as a Mechanic that plugged in their diagnostic computer? As I would find it strange that the system was developed to allow remote access to areas like cruise control, brakes and the accelerator?

    Date and time
    June 03, 2014, 11:09AM
    • Manufacturers like BMW and Mercedes have been able to use the sound system and remotely disable vehicles for many years now. Further a vehicle that has not been delivered to a dealer (ie stolen before it can be delivered) can purportedly be disabled by using the vehicles GPS track.

      I can't recall the specifics of the approach but I believe it is a progressive shutdown, for example limiting the speed of the car incrementally.

      Date and time
      June 03, 2014, 1:41PM
    • You do know that some modern vehicles have things like integrated anti-theft systems that can remotely immobilise a stolen vehicle, don't you?

      Just imagine WHEN someone hacks that interface and shuts down your engine or locks your steering when you are doing 100kph down a freeway.

      Date and time
      June 03, 2014, 1:49PM
  • So what exactly is this wireless interface that can be hacked into? While all new cars have an electrical interface - the ODB port - through which access to all the car's computerised functions can be gained, I was not aware of any of them having a wireless interface.

    Chris A
    Date and time
    June 03, 2014, 11:50AM
    • I have a 10 year old car that does not have wireless capabilities and is already quite sophisticated. I will keep it for as long as possible, as the new ones are just too "clever" for their own good.

      Date and time
      June 03, 2014, 11:59AM
      • Adam. Indeed. That would be pretty silly.
        It reminds me of the pre-2000 hype: "If it has a chip it could be vulnerable"...when was the last time you had to enter a date in your cars EMS, or an automatic door, or a fridge when you power it up?
        When steering is done by wire it would be insane to allow remote override...the basic architecture should prevent this. Of course it could be done in something completely dumb like Java EE which would open many silly back doors!

        Date and time
        June 03, 2014, 1:07PM

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