Thanks for any info. Appreciate the help.
2014-2015 Cherokee and Grand Cherokee.
Remedy:
Chrysler will notify and mail affected owners a USB drive that includes a software update that eliminates the vulnerability, free of
charge. Optionally, owners may download the update to their own USB drive from http://www.driveuconnect.com/software-update/
or take their vehicle to a Chrysler dealer for immediate installation.
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs/jaxrs/download/doc/UCM483350/RCRIT-15V461-7681.pdf
I don’t understand how these cars can be “hacked” unless they have a wireless link built into their main computers…
Many new cars have numerous wireless control connections including things like the accelerator and the steering. And in cars with things like crash avoidance systems, they braking system responds to the feedback of radar and/or sonar signals. The more of these new “nanny” devices you design in, the more ways an outside signal of the proper type and frequency can interfere with or even override the desired signals.
The problem is a new one, but as automatic systems that detect and respond to the outside world become more prevalent, the problem can only grow. Now that the problem has come to light, I’ve no doubt that manufacturers will make the systems much more secure. The cost of not doing so will be far too great to be acceptable. In the days of the Pinto, manufacturers could keep knowledge of problems within the company for the most part, but in the modern era where a piece of information can reach millions in nanoseconds, it ain’t so easy anymore.