As Usual, Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction.
My colleague Stuart Kwan, who perfectly embodies the union of car freak and identity geek, sent me to this mind-boggling “story
of how a virus was transmitted from an infected mobile phone to the OS
of a Lexus car, via Bluetooth. A whole new meaning to the word
contagious.”
The story, by David Quainton in SC Magazine, begins this way:
Lexus cars may be vulnerable to
viruses that infect them via mobile phones. Landcruiser 100 models
LX470 and LS430 have been discovered with infected operating systems
that transfer within a range of 15 feet.“If infected mobile devices are scary, just thinking about an
infected onboard computer..,” said Eugene Kaspersky, head of anti-virus
research at Russian firm Kaspersky. “We do know that car manufacturers
are integrating existing operating systems into their onboard computers
(take the Fiat and Microsoft deal, for instance).”It is understood the virus could affect the navigation system of the
Lexus models, it transfers onto them via a Bluetooth mobile phone
connection. It is still unclear which operating system the cars in
question use.“At this stage it's still early but it just goes to show that
technology has consequences,” said David Emm, senior technology
consultant at Kaspersky. “It's scary stuff.”
It is the cross-technology nature of this exploit which
blows the mind. The writing is on the wall. We need to come together as
an industry and act in a concerted way.