The previous owners of used "smart" cars can still control them via the cars' apps (not just cars!)

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Date: February 20, 2017 at 12:40:02 PM EST
> To: nnsquad () nnsquad org
> Subject: [ NNSquad ] The previous owners of used "smart" cars can still control them via the cars' apps (not just 
> cars!)
>
>
> The previous owners of used "smart" cars can still control them via the cars' apps (not just cars!)
>
> http://boingboing.net/2017/02/20/the-previous-owners-of-used.html
>
>      It's not just that smart cars' Android apps are sloppily
>    designed and thus horribly insecure; they are also
>    deliberately designed with extremely poor security choices:
>    even if you factory-reset a car after it is sold as used, the
>    original owner can still locate it, honk its horn, and unlock
>    its doors.  Again, this is by design: because auto-makers are
>    worried about lockout and hacks (for example, a valet
>    resetting your car to lock out your app), only the original
>    dealer can sever the car's connection with the cloud accounts
>    of the original owner.  Charles Henderson, the leader of IBM's
>    X-Force Red security division presented on this risk at last
>    week's RSA conference in San Francisco (you can read his essay
>    on the subject here). His ultimate recommendation is this
>    counsel of despair: unless you are very technologically savvy,
>    you should only buy new cars, not used ones.  It's not just
>    cars, either -- the problem extends to smart appliances,
>    thermostats, and other devices. Renting a house, staying in a
>    hotel room, or buying a house without replacing its appliances
>    and HVAC systems also exposes you to risks from the previous
>    users of the devices in it.
>
> - - -
>
> --Lauren--
> mailman/listinfo/nnsquad



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