Tesla car doors can be hacked

[BiffSplitkins]

Tesla car doors can be hacked - by using the same run-of-the-mill techniques they use to crack open computers.

That's according to security researcher Nitesh Dhanjani, who spoke about his findings at a recent hacker conference in Singapore. All it takes is cracking a six-character password, considered low-hanging fruit in the cyber security world.

And if it can happen to a Tesla (TSLA), other cars may also be susceptible. After all, many modern cars made by others like Ford (F, Fortune 500) and Toyota (TM) can also be controlled via computer and mobile phone apps and come equipped with wireless connections that tap into Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or cell phone networks.

"We now have ways of accessing our cars we never did before, and consumers aren't quite aware of that. Hackers will try to take advantage of that lack of awareness," said Erik Cabetas, managing partner at the consulting firm Include Security.

Dhanjani said today's cars should be held to a higher security standard than the average laptop. Not only are they more expensive, but losing control of a car can put lives in danger.

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[Lilly]

Anything can be hacked according to my son's friend (who has a Masters degree in Information Technology).

[MissJatti]

i'm hacking into this car, so i can have an unofficial test drive

[BiffSplitkins]

Anything can be hacked according to my son's friend (who has a Masters degree in Information Technology).

The fact that their account control website doesn't have any 'brute force' hacking protection on the main account password is kind of scary. That would definitely make me think twice about the rest of their quality control even if their vehicle does have a cool name.

[The Id3al Experience]

Anything can be hacked according to my son's friend (who has a Masters degree in Information Technology).

Correct Anything can be hacked with enough knowledge about what you are hacking... Not that I know or anything.. a little bird told me

[_Only]

Anything can be hacked according to my son's friend (who has a Masters degree in Information Technology).

They'll just have to step up some more secure, possibly creative, technology. Someone did not set the bar very high.

[aquatus1]

I tend to think the chances of a punk on the street looking to jack a car having a slim jim (or a wrench), as opposed to a cryptography setup (and the knowledge to work it), to be quite high.

[aquatus1]

Anything can be hacked according to my son's friend (who has a Masters degree in Information Technology).

Shoot, I can't remember the name of the movie that Rifftrax did a riff on, but Hollywood shares a similar impression.

There was a chase scene where they try to cut the guy off by calling their tech guy and telling him to hack into the bridge and raise it. Kevin Murphy comments:

"Okay, let me see, hacking, hacking, Nope, sorry, failed, because you can't hack into a bridge."