Jeep Cherokee Vulnerable To Wireless Hacking, But Australian Cars Safe

A critical weakness of Jeep's Uconnect infotainment system has allowed a group of professional hackers to gain remote control of a Cherokee by exploiting the car's internet connection, allowing them to, among other things, disable the car's brakes and engine.

The vulnerability was revealed in an article published on tech website Wired, ahead of the upcoming Black Hat cyber security conference in Las Vegas next month.

In it, the writer was subjected to a disabled transmission and disabled brakes, as well as less dangerous interference to the radio, climate control and windscreen washers.

The hack can also track a vehicle without the driver's knowledge.

How? Hackers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek were able to get access to the car's oboard computers via its internet-enabled Uconnect infotainment system, planting code that would allow them to control it via a computer many kilometres away.

Safety