Could Your Car Be Cyber-Hacked?????

This is one of those what if scenario's in life that you know the technology is there, but not quite in place yet.  I have read some recent articles on this topic and find it quite interesting.  Most computer security pros have really seen no evidence of car hackers doing anything sophisticated.  But keep the following scenario's in mind.

In March of 2010 a disgruntled former employee of Texas Auto Center in Austin, remotely disabled more than 100 cars.  The system on these cars by Pay Technologies, is a black box installed on cars that are usually put on by dealers.  These dealers are primarily working with customers of high risk loans.  Essentially these cars can be shut down when a payment is not made.  

Ford and GM are both encouraging developers to design apps that will integrate smartphone software. These endeavors for technology can only bring about changes that are good for the consumer.  Before you know it our cars will have the ability to talk to each other.  How cool is that?

OnStar is another sophisticated wireless system now being used on several newer cars. It also has a Stolen Vehicle Assistance which can help cops by locating a vehicle and then slowing it to a stop.  It also has the ability to have a live person get in touch with you when and if you are in an accident.  I think these features are pretty handy myself.

According to an OnStar representative, the company's service has of yet to be compromised.  They say they have several security systems in place to prevent this.  It is always inevitable though, if the technology is there, there is probably a way for someone to hack it.  It seems they should start looking into how to prevent this and rather sooner than later. 

**information was gathered from Popular Mechanics