Chrysler Group LLC and Nissan Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (OTCMKTS:NSANY) (TYO:7201) are reviewing the report by distinguished cybersecurity experts claiming that their cars are among the most hackable vehicles in the market.
The vehicles of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) were also included among the most hackable in the report. Security researchers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek are expected to release their report later this week.
Top three Most hackable cars
Miller and Valasek said the top three most hackable models out of the 20 vehicles they evaluated include: the 2014 Jeep Cherokee from Chrysler Group, the 2014 Infiniti Q50 from Nissan Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (OTCMKTS:NSANY) (TYO:7201) and the 2015 Cadillac Escalade from General Motors Company (NYSE:GM).
Miller serves as security engineer at Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) and Valasek is the director of vehicle security research at IOActive, a consulting firm. According to them, they evaluated the car safety based on the possibility of remote attacks.
Top three least hackable cars
Miller and Valasek also identified the 2014 Dodge Viper from Chrysler Group, the 2014 Audi A8 from Volkswagen AG (ADR) (OTCMKTS:VLKAY) and 2014 Accord from Honda Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (NYSE:HMC) as the top three “least hackable cars.”
Hackable cars: Chrysler, Nissan’s response
In response to the report, Eric Mayne, spokesperson for Chrysler Group said the automaker will “endeavor to verify” the claims that their car is among the most hackable. He said if the claim is warranted, the automaker will resolve the problem.
On the other hand, Nissan Motor Co Ltd (ADR) (OTCMKTS:NSANY) (TYO:7201) told Reuters that it is evaluating the findings of the security researchers. The Japanese automaker also stated that there is “no indication” that Miller and Valasek exploited any cyber security threats in the Infiniti Q50.
Security researchers did not attempt to hack the vehicles
The security researchers emphasized that they did not test the vehicles personally, but the assessed key criteria including the number of remote access technologies such as WiFi and Bluetooth. Hackers could gain control of the systems through these technologies to manipulate and cause physical damage to the car, according to Miller and Valasek.
Miller and Valasek clarified that the vehicles identified as most hackable may be quite secure citing the reason that they did not attempt to hack them. According to them, they released their assessment of “hackability” to create the first general benchmark for consumers in comparing the cybersecurity of vehicles.
The security researchers will discuss the finding of their report regarding the most hackable cars at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
