Hacked passwords can enable remote unlocking, tracking of Tesla cars

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2014/040114-hacked-passwords-can-enable-remote-280268.html

[There was a good tweet about solving this problem now with a simple fix
https://twitter.com/justinlundy_/status/449759008253964288  - WK]


By Lucian Constantin
IDG News Service
April 01, 2014

Tesla Motors accounts are protected only by simple passwords, making it 
easy for hackers to potentially track and unlock cars, according to a 
security researcher.

Tesla Model S owners need to create an account on teslamotors.com when 
they order their cars and the same account allows them to use an iOS app 
to remotely unlock the car's doors, locate it, close and open its roof, 
flash its lights or honk its horn.

Despite providing access to important car features, these accounts are 
only protected by a password with low-complexity requirements -- six 
characters long and at least one number and one letter -- a security 
researcher named Nitesh Dhanjani said Friday in a blog post.

The Tesla Motors site also doesn't seem to have an account lockout policy 
based on incorrect log-in attempts, which makes accounts registered on the 
site susceptible to brute-force password guessing attempts, Dhanjani said.

[...]



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