A security team in China managed to hack into a Tesla Model S from more than 12 miles away while driving in the self-driving feature.
The team remotely controlled the car’s brakes, dashboard computer, side mirrors, automatic windows, and door locks in during “parking and driving mode”
“It is worth to note (sic) that we used an unmodified car with latest firmware to demonstrate the attack,” the hackers wrote Wednesday. They hacked into several other Tesla Model S vehicles, showing the bug is part of a glitch in the vehicle’s software.
They added: “It is reasonable to assume that other Tesla models are affected.”
The hackers, part of the Keen Security Lab of Ten cent, posted a video to YouTube demonstrating the techno hack.
WATCH:
Tesla Motors claimed Wednesday to have fixed the glitch.
“We engage with the security research community to test the security of our products so that we can fix potential vulnerabilities before they result in issues for our customers,” a press statement reads. “Our realistic estimate is that the risk to our customers was very low, but this did not stop us from responding quickly.”
The company said the attack could be triggered only when a Tesla Internet web browser was in use near a malicious Wi-Fi hot spot.
The security team’s so-called “White Hack” comes as Tesla continues to wrestle with bad publicity following a spat of Model S wrecks, one of which ended in a fatality.
Tesla said it “immediately” notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about an accident and the death of Joshua Brown, Tesla said in a statement issued June 30. Brown was killed when his Model S collided with a tractor-trailer.
He had previously posted a video on YouTube praising the vehicle’s technology.
Less than two weeks after Brown died, Tesla and CEO Elon Musk sold more than $2 billion of Tesla stock in a public offering at a price of $215 per share — the electric vehicle company did all of this without notifying its shareholders or the public about the wreck.
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