Tag: automotive
Mercedes Benz Vulnerability Places Risk of Remote Access – January 20th
CERT-UA warns of attackers impersonating the agency via fake AnyDesk requests for "security audits." Remote access should only occur with prior approval through official channels to mitigate these risks. Amid ongoing cyberattacks linked to the Russo-Ukrainian war, over 1,042 incidents were detected in 2024, including espionage and malware campaigns by groups like Gamaredon and Sticky Werewolf. Pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian actors continue targeting each other with phishing and credential theft efforts.
US to block use of Chinese semiconductor equipment
The US Congress has introduced a new act to prevent the Chinese and “other foreign entities of concern” from infiltrating the US’s domestic chipmaking industry. The bill, the Chip Equipment Quality, Usefulness, and Integrity Protection Act of 2024 (Chip EQUIP Act), follows on from the CHIPS and Science Act, enacted in 2022, which earmarked roughly $280 billion in new funding to boost US domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors. It included $39 billion in subsidies plus tax breaks for US chipmakers. However, China has recently matched this with a new $40 billion investment in its own semiconductor industry, which will heavily focus on chip manufacturing equipment. In April, Chinese tech giant Huawei announced investing in new R&D capabilities to rival US, Japanese, and Dutch firms.
US blocks sales of citizens’ data to hostile powers
In what is being seen by some on the Hill as a case of too little too late, Washington has this week finally blocked the sale of US citizens’ personal sensitive data to four hostile foreign powers: North Korea, China, Russia, and Iran. Sensitive data includes ordinary people’s social security numbers, financial account numbers, biometric information, genetic information, precise geolocation information, and most of their private communications. Washington’s Energy and Commerce Committee top Democrat, Congressman Frank Pallone Jr, simultaneously issued a statement highlighting the massive threat foreign data sales present to ordinary people.
Joe Biden to cripple China’s car industry
US President Joe Biden has dealt a potentially devastating blow to China’s tottering economy by accusing China’s auto industry of posing a serious cyber risk to US national security. An impassioned speech from the President concerning the cyber threat posed by China comes only weeks after a similar warning from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) concerning China’s plans to launch a cyber-attack on US national infrastructure. “China is determined to dominate the future of the auto market, including by using unfair practices. China’s policies could flood our market with its vehicles, posing risks to our national security. I’m not going to let that happen on my watch,” promises the President.
Researchers Uncover a Tesla Autopilot Exploit – January 2nd
Researchers from the Technische Universität Berlin managed to hack into Tesla's autopilot system, granting them access to internal hardware and hidden capabilities. The university's researchers using inexpensive tools amounting to $600 hacked into Tesla's ARM64-based circuit board of the car's autopilot system. The researchers' hack on Tesla allowed them access to arbitrary code, user data, cryptographic keys, system parts, a deleted GPS coordinates video, and the hidden "Elon-mode" allowing the cars to have a fully hands-free self-driving feature.
Cyberattack Halts Albanian Parliament Data System – December 29th
Albania's Parliament announced it was hit by a cyberattack targeting its data system, resulting in halting the Parliament's services. The Albanian Parliament assured that although disrupted, the data was not encrypted by the threat actors and that their services would go back online soon.