Security researcher Craig Smith has developed a device to test whether the diagnostic machines used in car dealerships to check and tune modern cars can be compromised hacking και στη συνέχεια να χρησιμοποιούνται ως σταθμοί contaminations for spreading malware to other vehicles and from there to other garages.
Craig calls this scenario an "auto brothel" and warns that his machine has found many car diagnostic brains vulnerable to a number of simple techniques. hacking.
His research work has been presented during this year's DerbyCon, a conference on security and piracy, held in Louisville, Kentucky, Louisiana, Kentucky.
A $ 20 worth device to check if the car diagnostic tool is hackable
At the same conference, Craig also presented a special device he created to check the diagnostic brains of cars that are present in the workshops of the network of official dealerships. He named this machine ODB-GW (Ol' Dirty Bastard Gateway). The software for this tool, with the name Unified Diagnostic Services (UDS) Server is also available for download from GitHub.
As Craig explains, the ODB-GW device was created to act as a honeypot (hacker trap), making the car's diagnostic brain think it's connected to a car.
On the other side of ODB-GW, Craig connects a laptop computer, from which he is now able to carry out basic tests and identify weaknesses in the auto diagnosis machine.
The technique used by the ODB-GW device to find vulnerabilities is called "fuzzying", which sends large random pieces of data to the car diagnostic machine and then sees how this machine reacts and when and how it sticks.
Car diagnostics are susceptible to a malware outbreak
Mr Smith says that once a malicious hacker learns what the vulnerabilities are in a diagnostic machine, they can create malicious preletterwhich will be able to hack and infect the device and then use the diagnostic machine to spread to other cars that may be connected to that device, or even spread through the dealership's WiFi network to the cars that have WiFi and are in the workshop.
"As a safety auditor I definitely suggest you try it out, [...] it's a great market that hasn't been considered," says Smith, referring to the fact that the automaker has put in place minimal safety practices.
“Delegations are relatively vulnerable, have a very low level of security and usually do not yet have an internal IT department.
“You can make a malicious car, take it to a dealership for regular maintenance and from there attack the dealership. For example, when you plug in the diagnostic machine to see why the engine warning lamp is on, malware can get into the diagnostic machine. And then through this machine the software will get into any other car that will be connected to it, so you will have a car tolerance ”
Mr. Smith then goes deeper into the hacking scenario, stating that experts who manage to infect cars or dealerships with ransomware could charge exorbitant sums to unlock the cars, either from the individual owner of each car or from the car dealership which is responsible for their care and proper operation.
Craig Smith is his founder Open Garages, the author of the manual Car Hacker's Handbook, and today runs his own independent security research firm, Theia Labs.
You can see Craig's presentation at DerbyCon Craig below. Beware, in addition to being in English, the presentation is made with many references to the terminology of the car and hacking, so all of this may seem like a bit of pop.
