Could you find yourself at the wheel of two tons of rolling steel that has malevolent code coursing through its electronic veins? That frightening prospect has had Internet message boards buzzing this year, amid rumors that a virus had infected Lexus cars and S.U.V.’s.
The virus supposedly entered the cars over the Bluetooth wireless link that lets drivers use their cellphones to carry on hands-free conversations through the cars’ microphones and speakers. A handful of real if fairly benign cellphone viruses have already been observed, in antivirus industry parlance, “in the wild.” Still, a virus in a cellphone might muck up an address book or, at worst, quietly dial Vanuatu during peak hours.
But malicious code in cars, which rely on computers for functions as benign as seat adjustment and as crucial as antiskid systems that seize control of the brakes and throttle to prevent a crash, could do far more harm.
The Lexus tale, based on murky reporting and a speculative statement by Kaspersky Labs, a Moscow antivirus company, seems to have been unfounded. “Lexus and its parent companies, Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc. and Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan, have investigated this rumor,” the carmaker said in a statement last month, “and have determined it to be without foundation.”
But the question lingers: Could a car be infected by a virus passed along from, say, your cellphone or hand-held computer?
“Right now this is a lot of hype rather than reality, the idea that cars could be turning against us,” said Thilo Koslowski, a vice president and lead analyst for auto-based information and communication technologies at Gartner G2, a technology research firm.
First, vehicles are increasingly controlled by electronics – to the point that even the simple mechanical link between the gas pedal and engine throttle is giving way to “drive by wire” systems.
Second, more data is being exchanged with outside sources, including cellphones and real-time traffic reports.
Finally, the interlinking of car electronics opens up the possibility that automotive worms could burrow into a memory storage area in ways that engineers never imagined.
Less obvious are the advantages of having the components communicate: an antiskid system, designed to help keep a car from spinning out of control, links sensors in the steering, brakes and throttle, and can effectively seize control from the driver.
http://www.techweb.com/wire/security/159400873