Hackers using DAB to shut your vehicle down

Factory fitted DAB can cause some major issues for motorists in the UK. A hacking group has found a major loop hole is the transmitted DAB signal. The problem being with factory fit DAB equipment the unit communicates on the vehicles data line called Can-Bus. When a hacker attempts to access your multimedia system the results can vary massively depending on the vehicle and the data connections and modules. On some vehicles only fairly basic items in the car could be shut down, for example wipers and indicators and in other more advanced cars where the whole ABS, AIRBAG and engine ECU is on the same network they could adjust throttle RPM and the braking system on the vehicle causing the ABS to shut down. Meaning you would have poor braking performance when coming to a stop.

When a vehicles main ECU runs on the can network in extreme cases they can shut the engines engine down and this would be very dangerous, for example over taking a vehicle on a country lane. Customers with aftermarket DAB systems don't need to worry even if a can bus module is installed this only converts data and doesn't have a direct connection to the vehicles Can Bus line.

The only vehicle known so far is Chrysler to make a patch software update to stop any DAB attack being carried out on there system. This situation will only get worse when more internet multimedia systems are fitted into cars as standard.