OnStar officials believe that the software vulnerability that allows hacking of the RemoteLink app is now patched. "We're confident this issue is closed," Terry Inch, OnStar chief operating officer, said to Wards Auto. The flaw was one of several discovered in recent weeks that potentially opened vehicles up to nefarious people, including a 1.4-million model recall for FCA.
In the OnStar case, a white hat hacker discovered a way to intercept communication from the RemoteLink app and gain access to the software's functions. Once hacked, a person had control over things like the locks, GPS data, and the ability to start and stop the engine. GM promptly responded with a patched version for iOS devices and tweaks on its back-office system. "We feel the vulnerability was taken care of by downloading the new Remote Link app," Inch said to Wards Auto.
The company's COO indicated that OnStar is trying to take a pro-active approach towards hacking by working with universities and the government to find holes in the system before they become a serious problem for drivers. Unfortunately, future vulnerabilities are almost a certainty across the auto industry, despite the best efforts of Congress. "We're confident and believe we've done everything possible to resolve the issue, but problems like this are never entirely resolved and we can't say that something like this will never happen again," he said.
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In the OnStar case, a white hat hacker discovered a way to intercept communication from the RemoteLink app and gain access to the software's functions. Once hacked, a person had control over things like the locks, GPS data, and the ability to start and stop the engine. GM promptly responded with a patched version for iOS devices and tweaks on its back-office system. "We feel the vulnerability was taken care of by downloading the new Remote Link app," Inch said to Wards Auto.
The company's COO indicated that OnStar is trying to take a pro-active approach towards hacking by working with universities and the government to find holes in the system before they become a serious problem for drivers. Unfortunately, future vulnerabilities are almost a certainty across the auto industry, despite the best efforts of Congress. "We're confident and believe we've done everything possible to resolve the issue, but problems like this are never entirely resolved and we can't say that something like this will never happen again," he said.
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