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Author Topic: DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala  (Read 6452 times)

Renegade

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DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala
« on: February 10, 2015, 05:50 AM »
Connected car? IoT? Oh, sure! This is totally gonna work out just peachy! ;D

http://jalopnik.com/...evrolet-i-1684593523

In a broad-reaching report by 60 Minutes about DARPA and the Internet of Things, the Department of Defense has shown that it can hack General Motors' OnStar system to remote control a last-gen Chevrolet Impala.9

DARPA has a budget of around half a billion dollars a year and its Information Innovation Office is headed by Dan Kaufman, who employs a team of researchers that focus on increasing national security through revolutionary projects. One of those projects involves hacking the connected car, and this is what they found:

[VIDEO]

According to the report, which is scant on technical details, DARPA engineers dialed in through the Impala's OnStar system, transmitted a data packet that confused the internal computers, and then planted a malicious bit of code that allowed it to reprogram control systems on the ECU.10

That allowed them to do everything from turn on the windshield wipers to honk the horn, and even controll the throttle and brakes, putting a hapless Lesley Stahl through a line of cones.11

The piece from 60 Minutes, which doesn't exactly have the greatest track record when it comes to automotive reporting (and more), is bolstered by a report from the office of Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey. The report, due out tomorrow, supposedly states that all new cars can be hacked and that, according to 60 Minutes, "only two out of 16 car makers can diagnose or respond to an infiltration in real-time."12131415

We're waiting to get our hands on the report from Senator Markey's office and have reached out to DARPA for more details on how the OnStar vulnerability was exploited. GM has yet to respond to a request for comment.

You can watch the full story from 60 Minutes here.

More at the link with video.

This is why I want to buy 1 extra old beater car for $500 or so -- just to have something that isn't connected.

If you feel like going down the rabbit hole, just say "Michael Hastings" 3x in front of the bathroom mirror in the dark... ;)

Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

Stoic Joker

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Re: DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2015, 06:32 AM »
+10 on the old school - straight mech - classic, I'm shopping for a project now.


Military Rule of Combat:
If the enemy is in range...so are you. e.g. All connections are -(to be assumed as)- bidirectional.

Renegade

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Re: DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2015, 07:27 AM »
+10 on the old school - straight mech - classic, I'm shopping for a project now.

I will be in the project market pretty soon. We're almost ready for the big move, and one of those things that I'm looking forward to is getting back to having enough space to DO stuff.

The last while I've been going nuts on educating myself on all kinds of things for that. Too much to learn though... I'm guessing a lot will be "trial by fire". :)

Back to cars...

I definitely want at least 1 vehicle that can't be shut down out of the blue. Forget DARPA -- I remember what it was like to be 14, and building something to shut down all the cars within X radius would totally have been a "fun" thing to experiment with... We don't always think very clearly when we're 12 or 14.
Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

40hz

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Re: DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2015, 08:49 AM »
One problem is that law enforcement is actively pushing for a "remote disable plus tracking" feature to be built into all cars sold in the USA. They're arguing that this would increase public safety by removing the possibility for engaging in a high speed chase.

So...I suppose the getaway vehicle of choice will then become a motorcycle? Then what? (Oh right...we still have police drones so we can do an eye-in-the-sky if we need to go after those, right?)

As Stoic alluded to earlier, in any tit-for-tat tech exchange, the bad inevitably comes along with the good.

It never ends...and if it ever does end, it will end badly. :-\

Renegade

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Re: DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala
« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2015, 09:54 AM »
As Stoic alluded to earlier, in any tit-for-tat tech exchange, the bad inevitably comes along with the good.

All too often, it seems to precede the good...

it will end badly. :-\

Yep.
Slow Down Music - Where I commit thought crimes...

Freedom is the right to be wrong, not the right to do wrong. - John Diefenbaker

wraith808

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Re: DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2015, 10:26 AM »
They already have it in place for high risk borrowers- I'd said when they put that in place, it boded ill. :(

Deozaan

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Re: DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala
« Reply #6 on: February 10, 2015, 11:28 AM »
Is it really hacking when you own it?

"Oh noes! Someone is in my DonationCoder account, making a forum post about GM! h4x! Oh wait it's just me."

wraith808

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Re: DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala
« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2015, 12:51 PM »
Is it really hacking when you own it?

"Oh noes! Someone is in my DonationCoder account, making a forum post about GM! h4x! Oh wait it's just me."

It's proof of concept.  Showing the possibilities.  And yes, it's still hacking... maybe not from an intruder, but it's still hacking.  Like you get hackers to do penetration testing on systems.  Right?

40hz

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Re: DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2015, 12:55 PM »
Is it really hacking when you own it?

Good question. But an even better one would be "Do you actually own it?" Everybody seems to want to merely license rather than sell you things these days. According to Apple and B&N I don't own my devices. I only own the physical artifact itself. Any functionality it provides (and the software that makes it happen) belongs to them. I just get to use it. According to them I'm contractually prohibited from loading any software but theirs on 'their' devices or loading it in any way other than through their app stores too.

A client of mine recently purchased a multifunction network copier/fax/scanner from one of the big names. It comes with a "feature key" hardware thingy which you have to insert and register in order for the device to do anything. I guess they make one device and you get to decide what capabilities you want to to enable and pay for. From what I can see in the EULA, that key is non-transferable. So you may sell your old machine to somebody else - but - it seems they'll need to make arrangements to buy their own key in order for it to function.

I'm hearing of a lot of that sort of thinking lately - although the law is still hazy about how acceptable that concept may be since it acts to restrict the original "owner" from participating in the used equipment market. It's a real problem. Especially since some high priced yoga pants manufacturer is requiring it's buyers to contractually agree not to resell any of their products as a condition of your purchase. (All done in the name of "protecting the unsuspecting buyer," preventing counterfeit products, and "maintaining quality and brand reputation," of course. Yeah, right!. :-\)

So what does it mean to own something these days?

Deozaan

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Re: DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala
« Reply #9 on: February 10, 2015, 12:58 PM »
Is it really hacking when you own it?

Good question. But an even better one would be "Do you actually own it?"

It was meant more of a tongue-in-cheek jab at "Government Motors" since the whole GM buyout/too-big-to-fail fiasco a few years back.

40hz

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Re: DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala
« Reply #10 on: February 10, 2015, 01:33 PM »
^ I figured as much.  :Thmbsup: I wish what I was asking was half as tongue in cheek. ;D

Stoic Joker

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Re: DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala
« Reply #11 on: February 10, 2015, 03:26 PM »
A client of mine recently purchased a multifunction network copier/fax/scanner from one of the big names. It comes with a "feature key" hardware thingy which you have to insert and register in order for the device to do anything.

Xerox?? I always liked calling them Zippy Sticks just to watch the rep's face contort with repressed rage. :D