Remote control of modern cars: making a few things perfectly clear

SOURCE: jimstonefreelance.com

ANY car with Onstar, and all other cars manufactured after 2004 can be hijacked, but some are going to be safer than others.

How they disable the brakes - Only antilock brakes can be disabled. An antilock brake system looks for wheels that are not spinning when the brake is applied, and when it senses a wheel that is not spinning it releases the brake. To hack an antilock brake system and cause it to not allow a driver to brake, all you have to do is fool it into believing none of the wheels are spinning. The brakes will not engage.

How to keep the car running with the key out - This is possible only with cars that use electronic keys. Since the ignition switch activates when it senses the correct electrical characteristics or code in the key, all you have to do is fool the ignition control module into believing the correct conditions are met. There is no mechanical disconnect with an electronic key.

How to keep the car in gear when the driver takes it out of gear - This is possible only with electronically controlled transmissions. Nowadays, all automatic transmissions are electronically controlled. If the transmission is fooled into believing it is supposed to be engaged, it won’t matter where you put the selector. The solution then is (some of the time) a manual transmission, which you can take out of gear yourself and just let the engine rev until it blows, but even a few manual transmissions have electronic control now that would make that impossible. Then there is always the clutch with a manual, which you could also push, provided there is a real cable going to that clutch and not just an electronic control.

How to rev the engine to max when the driver is not pushing the gas - This is a no brainer, electronic throttle control is now as old as the hills, and common since 1980. Fool the throttle position sensor into believing it is wide open, and the manifold pressure sensor into believing the car is at 20,000 feet elevation. Everything will open right up and it’s max throttle until the crash.

The safest car will have no antilock brakes, a manual transmission, and an old fashioned solid metal key. If you have such a car, even if it is manufactured after 2004, they probably won’t attempt a suicide run with it because all they can do is push the gas.

Solutions to the problem if your car is not one of the safe ones - A dashboard fuel pump switch, and a dashboard switch that can cut the power to the antilock brake system. Once the antilock brake system is not functioning, the car is designed to default to mechanical brakes. Introducing a failure into the ABS system by disabling the sensors won’t work, because once hacked a totally new environment in which the sensors are irrelevant is created and the fact that the sensors are disabled won’t make any difference. If you want, add a third switch for the ignition system.

If I ever end up being able to buy a car again, I will take the ultimate option – put super strong tape on both sides of the plastic part of the fuse bodies, ALL OF THEM, and connect all of that strong tape from all of the fuses together to make a loop, which a rope is tied to and attached to a lawn mower pull start handle, and have that mounted to the underside of the steering column. The moment I notice the car getting wanky, I can pull the handle and rip every single fuse out at the same time. That way I won’t void the warranty with any safety modifications.

It’s a sad world we live in when the government can pretty much murder anyone they wish. There is no doubt Hastings was murdered, but I think that with a few precautions your modern car can be made safe against a government hack. Remember, for now it is just the most important people getting murdered, but if it ever comes down to a hot fight against the people you can bet your shorts that the government will use murder via car crash as the ultimate option for getting rid of the resistance. They will no doubt do it en masse. The capability is there, via an always on cellular internet connection. Do you really think they won’t use it?

- Jim Stone