[Gepeto]

Good morning everyone. I am a recent member who has ordered a M235i which I should be picking up in October. It's my first BMW, and probably my first car with any "technology" in it

I wanted to let you know about this open letter to automotive industry CEOs: https://www.change.org/petitions/automo ... e_petition

As cars become more and more complex, add remote connectivity options, steer by wire + self parking and in some cases full blown Web Browsers in the console, information security will become more important. As an information security consultant, I believe that cars should be made while taking that into consideration. Unlike my trusty old 240sx (which I sold this spring! ), my M235i will have tons of electronic systems, and who knows when the first self-driving cars will be commercialized? Manufacturers have a chance now to make security something they handle very well, before it becomes even more important. If cars are like other systems, making them secure usually ends up in making them more reliable too, due to added testing and more rugged designs.

A good example is Tesla, which is hiring a bunch of security pros and hackers to test and fix their car, and who has announced a disclosure program ( https://www.teslamotors.com/en_EU/about/security ) where we can submit issues found on the car.

If you think this is important, please sign it!

[Gepeto]

For those who would like to know more, last year, Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek demonstrated some hacks on a few cars including a Prius.
Long version (quite technical ):

Shorter video in Forbes:

These attacks were done locally, but with more and more communications stuff added to cars (GPS, 3G/LTE, Wireless remotes and sensors, etc), the potential for remote attacks is going up.

This year they presented a survey / stats on the possibilities of remote attacks: https://www.blackhat.com/us-14/brief...ttack-surfaces