THE CAR COACH REPORTS:

March 10th, 2017

Possible, Probable, Plausible Edition

Earlier in the week WikiLeaks published more documents allegedly connected to the CIA. Big surprise that the CIA has been supposedly spying and hacking.  What should concern us if WikiLeaks is right is that the CIA had thought of using cars as targets to hack.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20170309/MOBILITY/170309776/cia-mission-on-cars-shows-concern-about-next-generation-vehicles

For what pray tell?  Well, we don’t know exactly. WikiLeaks, at first, said for assassinations, but that is just conjecture. What we do know is that if the documents are CIA, which said agency will not confirm that the documents are theirs, the CIA looked at hacking our cars.

From a tactical view, I guess I can see the benefits.  If you can hack a car remotely you can listen in on what is being said in the car and gain useful intelligence, perhaps. Or more sinisterly, possibly take over a car and cause a wreck that can’t be traced. (Unless of course WikiLeaks found out about said imaginary crash and hacked the CIA to uncover their footprint—which is another discussion for another time.)

Maybe using cars as mission targets was just an exercise in brainstorming. Maybe. But before dismissing it we really have to look at the three Ps here: possibility, probability, and plausibility.

Is it possible. Yep. We know this. Over the last couple years Tesla and Jeep have been remotely hacked. And last year, Germany found that you can hack a car using a wireless key fob. So yes, getting into a car through the infotainment system or key fob or over the wireless system a la Tesla is possible.

Is car hacking probable? Well, yes. And no. If you’re an Average Joe or Jane with no ties to terror groups and no real interest or value to our government, a run of the mill criminal wouldn’t be able to hack your car quite as easily as someone trained to hack. So for most of us, our cars being targeted for attack, is not within the realm of probability.

But is car hacking plausible? An overwhelming yes, in my opinion. As of right now, there are a lot of vulnerabilities in car connectedness that a skilled, perhaps government-sponsored, hacker can exploit to get into your car. What’s more, the industry is lagging behind the hackers in closing up the gaps in security.

Without us getting all Chicken Little about it, we already know, thanks to Edward Snowden, that the NSA was spying on us without warrants. Do you really think our government wouldn’t use their capabilities on us without due process if it deemed it necessary?

What do you think?

Post your comments on Twitter @LaurenFix

Final Thought:

This is not a hoax: http://autoweek.com/article/classic-cars/lost-bullitt-mustang-found-mexico.

The actual Bullitt Mustang has been found. In Mexico. As Autoweek points out this will be probably get auctioned off for a huge amount when the restoration is complete.

The Bullitt Mustang is a hug piece of cinema and automotive history so I’m just glad this isn’t a fraud.

Post your comments on Twitter @LaurenFix or on her Facebook Page

Love Your Car! See you next week!

–Lauren Fix