CIA Can Hack Cars to Carry Out “Undetectable Assassinations”

originally posted by: intrptr

originally posted by: Rosinitiate


Sure can, any electronic can be manipulated to an open or closed position. Relays are the damnedest things. It receives the required signal and operates as requested. PLC's are 1's and 0's.

Like Beldam said up the page, steering control would need a servo attached to the steering column. Steering is not operated by digital 1's and 0's.

No but the response by the circuit is dictated by such.

a reply to: Watcher777

"Conspiracy theories" was a term coined by the CIA to destract from truth.

Ironic, huh?

Bastages!

a reply to: Bedlam

He had the Mercedes C250 which I am sure had all the bells and whistles. I am still going to say this was intentional and I am sure we have seen it many times before.

Most new cars have electronic steering. Not mechanical anymore. Not to mention just about everything has a module for itself. Highly feasible IMO. Even the braking system goes through the ABS pump which is electronically controlled.

a reply to: Bedlam

Even the CIA has limits. If the car has no servomechanisms on the steering, no one's going to be able to 'hack' the steering. If the car doesn't have CAN bus, it's unlikely that you can hack anything on it at all. Some cars have a lot of 'modern conveniences', and the ones with parking assist and the like that actually CAN work the steering, and those are going to be the ones you can do a lot with. But no amount of hackery can do magic.

exactly.
I agree Bedlam, As a time served mechanic (though ive been out of the game for a few years) apart from the smart bluetooth wireless controls on some of these top end new cars the only way to hack into the cars CPU/ECU would be to install a piggy back device to the port where the diagnostics plugs in, that could in theory be done.

But for the most part your dealing with mechanical components with little or no transfer of data that could take over a car fully.it's these fly by wire controls where there arnt any physical linkage to the systems that pose a threat if there linked into a bluetooth interface or the piggy back attached to the diagnostic port that would enable this in theory. (this would have to be physically attached discreetly)

But a lot of what you see in films/TV for the most is fantasy
IMHO
seems mercedes-benz are prone though and im not sure how (princess Diana) this seemed to much of a myth as it was years ago and the tech to take over that particular car as far as i was concerned was none existent at the time.
I would like to see a full demonstration of these hacks in a controlled environment as proof.

a reply to: Bedlam

How do they get in, well, most cars have a really crappy Bluetooth stack (see also: Car Whisperer) that is easy to get into. Luckily, it's pretty short range.

And most if not all "connected" drivers have a smartphone with Bluetooth, WiFi, Cellular multiband and GPS radio. Such smartphone could make an excellent remote connection platform to "talk" to the car computer crappy Bluetooth stack if it would be possible to hack into smartphone, right ?!

But we all know that hacking smartphones is science-fiction, right ?!

Just to fill in the blanks, Hastings requested to borrow a car from a friend because he thought his own may be tampered. It was a Mercedes, iirc.

The video sure looks like a throttle stuck wide open. I can't speak to the explosion(s).

From a physics standpoint, a cars brakes are more powerful than the engine. That is to say just juicing the throttle alone should not produce a runaway condition. If the treatment was applied at just the right moment on the road, maybe a lucky shot???

A a for-instance, these OBD Blutooth dongles are super common and cheap. I use them all the time to do OBD read/write and softcoding on the fly....right from my phone. They work great...




torque-bhp.com...

Also, without servo steering control, you could simply brake one front wheel independently to guide the vehicle. One technique might be to alternate L&R ata interval similar to a drivers steering reaction, which could result in a loss of control.

a reply to: FlyingFox

Also, without servo steering control, you could simply brake one front wheel independently to guide the vehicle. One technique might be to alternate L&R ata interval similar to a drivers steering reaction, which could result in a loss of control.

There is no need for this operation to be very complex, at least technically.

You only need to upload a program that will:

1- Deactivate the brake-by-wire system.
2- Deactivate motor cut-off
3- Send the throttle at full.

The controller(s) then need a list of "appropriate" road section and the usual info like real time location ...

Then when the probability for success is deamed maximal, like driver already speeding, someone just trigger the system. Even if the steering still under control of driver, what difference, he can choose where he will crash himself... And the handbrake! Anyone ever tried to pull-it at great speed ?

Here is a good video showing how easy it is to hack a car system or to add a component to accomplish the same thing.

This video is from 2014 and the technology had been around awhile. Doesn't seem like it would have taken much to hack Hasting's vehicle.

The CIA can also hack and turn off chips in airplanes and make it look like an accident. Let that sink in.

FLASHBACK: JFK Jr. died in a plane crash in 1999. He was the front runner in the NY Senate race, after which Hillary Clinton ran unopposed.

originally posted by: bluesjr
a reply to: RainbowPhoenix

I should have never sold my '69 Camero

That was my first thought, just don´t buy and use hackable cars. Then you even are able to repair your own car for yourself. And not like all that modern rolling computers where everything has to be done in a repair shop, for only the profits of the car manufacturer.

The same with phones. If i don´t want to be spied on the whole time, i don´t buy and use a "smart"phone spying device and spread all of my data via "social" media around the web.

originally posted by: Rosinitiate

originally posted by: intrptr

originally posted by: Rosinitiate


Sure can, any electronic can be manipulated to an open or closed position. Relays are the damnedest things. It receives the required signal and operates as requested. PLC's are 1's and 0's.

Like Beldam said up the page, steering control would need a servo attached to the steering column. Steering is not operated by digital 1's and 0's.

No but the response by the circuit is dictated by such.

Of course, depending on make and model, a kill switch would lock the steering, too.


Edit: There, I left you an out.

originally posted by: Watcher777
Here is a good video showing how easy it is to hack a car system or to add a component to accomplish the same thing.

This video is from 2014 and the technology had been around awhile. Doesn't seem like it would have taken much to hack Hasting's vehicle.

But not steer it as into a tree on the side of the road. Didn't actually show him do it from "a mile away". The actual hack shown is from the passenger seat and only interrupts the vehicle operation, not 'remote controlling', per se.

How would he even steer a car remotely from a laptop? Dude lies saying he can steer, that is not done by wire, like modern jets 'fly by wire'.

originally posted by: Zerodoublehero
Most new cars have electronic steering. Not mechanical anymore. Not to mention just about everything has a module for itself. Highly feasible IMO. Even the braking system goes through the ABS pump which is electronically controlled.

Seems you're right, my bad. Its an electric 'assist', been offered since 2012 (the linked article date). Did his car have this feature?

Does that prove he was murdered by the CIA? Hardly. The 'no proof' proof is glaring.

It was midnight he was strung out on coke, looking to get more, paranoid as hell, racing to fast in a fugue state from staying up for days, watching his mirror instead of the road ahead...whoops, game over.

Caranddriver

originally posted by: Nickn3
Would someone please explain how it's possible to hack a car and do anything except turn it off? The brakes and steering are mechanicals, switch off the motor or shift into neutral removes the accelerator.

More and more vehicles have electric power steering. I don't know enough about it, but I would think it's much more likely to be able to be manipulated than rack & pinion.

I can connect a diagnostic computer to a car and accelerate/decelerate it. This can be done via wifi / Bluetooth, with the tools of a diagnostic technician - to say nothing of what someone with inside information, top programmers and essentially unlimited budgets can do.

With the right "hack", you can blow the airbags, spoof the vehicle's historical records (previous GPS locations, text messages sent / phone calls made from the car, etc.) You can trick the vehicle into running at a different gear ratio.

I don't know enough about steering to know whether it could be controlled - I believe it's only electric power steering, meaningwith the wheel still mechanically operating the steering components. I'd imagine it won't be long before full "steer by wire" is a thing. One could still manipulate the electric power steering to make it more difficult to turn the wheel though.

This is NOT the reason I have and will always have a classic car, but it's a comforting side effect.

a reply to: SolarSon

So how exactly. could they listen to you from a tv screen in the 80's. Please explain.

I'm not sure which soft codes will accomplish brake deactivation, only activation.

The prearranged programme scheme with a base map of "fast" roads and target zones does make sense. I didn't think of that, I must be getting rusty.

Steering servo is a rare feature. Surely there's some specific process to accomplish the out-of-control condition we see in Hastings car. A full bore AMG Mercedes would be tough to control at full throttle, although I believe the brakes should win....if you add the momentum of an already fast moving car....it could def tip the scales.

originally posted by: Konduit
The CIA can also hack and turn off chips in airplanes and make it look like an accident. Let that sink in.

Not really. Again, it's not magic. You have to get into a system that has physical control over a flight system that can cause the accident. For a plane, it would have to have fly by wire. Something which is sorely lacking in a Piper Saratoga.

FLASHBACK: JFK Jr. died in a plane crash in 1999. He was the front runner in the NY Senate race, after which Hillary Clinton ran unopposed.

It was a dark and foggy night. Not that there aren't other ways to make airplanes crash on demand.