Comment Overblown Hyperbole (Score 5, Insightful) 107
In a 2013 study that was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), two researchers demonstrated their ability to connect a laptop to two different vehiclesâ(TM) computer systems using a cable, send commands to different ECUs through the CAN, and thereby control the engine, brakes, steering and other critical vehicle components
So you're telling me that if you have direct physical access to a car's ECU, you can issue commands to it? No shit sherlock. That is THE WHOLE POINT of the CAN bus. The only alternative would be to close down the bus and only allow "authorized" accessories to be connected to it - hello sky-high diagnostic fees and goodbye to useful bluetooth OBD connectors.
Call me when this can be done wirelessly. Oh and yes I did read the "What the companies failed to note is that the DARPA study built on prior research that demonstrated that one could remotely and wirelessly access a vehicleâ(TM)s CAN bus through Bluetooth connections, OnStar systems, malware in a synced Android smartphone, or a malicious file on a CD in the stereo" blurb - which still failed to materialize an actual working example of exploiting a CAN wirelessly.