Automotive Hacking - How to Protect Your Car

When we hear the word "hacking", we mostly think of hijacking a computer to control it or access sensitive user information. With technological advancements, hacking is no longer limited to computers. The automotive industry is becoming more and more vulnerable to automotive hacking that has the potential to control the entire vehicle and even risk your life.

As per the report by Upstream, cyberattacks on cars have increased to a whopping 225% from 2018 to 2021. In fact, the report also narrated that 85% of attacks in 2021 were based on remote car hacking. Upstream projects that the automotive industry will likely lose $505 billion to cyberattacks by 2024. Although the statistics are concerning, there are always ways to prevent such attacks. Therefore, this blog will discuss in detail what is automotive hacking all about and then also list some of the best ways to prevent such automobile vulnerabilities.

What Automotive Hacking Is About?

In simple words, automotive hacking is about gaining unauthorized access to the car's computer system, which leads to accessing sensitive information or controlling key functions of the car.

Modern cars we see around today contain many technologically advanced onboard computerized equipment, such as electronic control unit (ECU), key fob entry, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a controller area network (CAN), and similar others. Moreover, many cars are even connected to a central server via the internet. All these technologies do come with some security vulnerabilities that are used by attackers to conduct automotive hacking. Once hackers succeed in ECU hacking, they can easily access all the data synced with the car and can also control main car functions, such as brakes, wipers, dashboards, etc. In short, the more the car is computerized, the more it is vulnerable to cyberattacks.

How do Hackers Access Vehicles?

There are multiple ways hackers can access vehicles. Some of the common methods are as follows:

• Key Fob Hacks: Key fob hack is one of the most popular hacks performed by hackers to access/steal cars. In this hack, hackers clone/spoof the signal that a key and car use to make communication.
• Vulnerable Third-Party Apps: If you have installed a third-party app that is vulnerable to security threats, then it can be exploited by attackers to penetrate into your car's CPU. For example, one hacker found that there is a possibility to kill dozens of cars' engines remotely just by exploiting the weak password protocols of two GPS tracking apps (iTrack and ProTrack).
• Internet: Since modern cars are mostly connected to the internet, it opens many possibilities for hackers to somehow hijack the car system. For example, hackers can try to know your IP address to get into the CPU system.
• Phishing Messages: Hackers can send phishing messages through the car's communication and entertainment system to manipulate you and penetrate into the system.
• Smartphones: Most cars are connected to smartphones. Therefore, hackers can first try to hack the smartphone and then use the smartphone to access the car's system.
• Telematics: Telematics is the system commonly used by taxi services that help the administration to know certain information about the car, such as car location, fuel levels, tire pressure, oil pressure, etc. Hackers can interrupt this system to access the car's system.

There are also other possible ways hackers can use to hijack the car's CPU depending on the different vulnerabilities that different cars are exposed to.

How to Prevent Cyberattack on your Car

Just like installing antivirus software and keeping OS up-to-date can help prevent attacks on computer systems, there are also some practices that can help prevent cyberattacks on cars. Some of the key ones are as follows:

• Keep Car Software Updated: Outdated car software can contain bugs that hackers can exploit. So, make sure you regularly check for the car software updates and install them right away.
• Restrict the use of Wireless Systems: Wireless systems in your car are internet-based, which increases the chances of remote car hacking. Therefore, you should restrict the use of wireless systems in your car.
• Use VPN: VPN provides a defense wall between you and hackers, making it really difficult for hackers to deploy malware attacks on car electronics. So, try to install a trustworthy VPN in your car's system.
• Turn off GPS: GPS spoofing is one of the common practices used by hackers to hack vehicles mainly by using radio signals to interface with the GPS location system. So, turning the GPS off when not in use can help a lot.
• Careful with Third-Party Software: Installing third-party software in your car system opens new doors for hackers. It is recommended that you only install third-party software that are well reputed or authorized by the manufacturer.

Other than the above measures, you can also search for the potential automobile vulnerabilities specific to your car model and then deploy preventive measures accordingly.

Wrapping Up

The automotive industry is on an aggressive rise for the past few years. The involvement of technology in every aspect of the car is being focused on and expected in the future. So, there is no doubt that hackers will try their best to find automobile vulnerabilities. Therefore, there is an utmost need to prioritize the security of automotive vehicles. Car owners can play their role by following the above preventive measures, but it's the manufacturers who have to step up with vigorous measures to minimize the chances of automotive hacking.

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