Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) announced on Friday that it is currently recalling around 1.4 million U.S. vehicles that have a specific 8.4-inch touch-based radio installed. The recall is completely voluntary, however, the company insists that customers receive the software update to fix a security problem that was pointed out by a recent article written by Wired.
“Customers affected by the recall will receive a USB device that they may use to upgrade vehicle software, which provides additional security features independent of the network-level measures,” the company said on Friday. “Alternately, customers may visit http://ift.tt/1OuvJBs to input their Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) and determine if their vehicles are included in the recall.”
The Wired report centers on a Jeep Cherokee and two hackers: Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek. They managed to take control of the vehicle while it was moving 70 mph in downtown St. Louis. They manipulated the dashboard functions, the breaks and so on. Even more, the laptop that was used to gain access to the Jeep Cherokee resided ten miles away from the “testing” site.
“The software manipulation addressed by this recall required unique and extensive technical knowledge, prolonged physical access to a subject vehicle and extended periods of time to write code,” the company added. “No defect has been found. FCA US is conducting this campaign out of an abundance of caution.”
Wired reports that Miller and Valasek plan to reveal a portion of their exploit on the Internet next month during the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. That said, FCA is urging customers to get the software update to prevent hackers from taking over their vehicles. Customers that have questions should call the customer care center here in the U.S. at 1-800-853-1403.
Here is the list of automobiles that are affected by the exploit:
2013-2015 MY Dodge Viper specialty vehicles
2013-2015 Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups
2013-2015 Ram 3500, 4500, 5500 Chassis Cabs
2014-2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Cherokee SUVs
2014-2015 Dodge Durango SUVs
2015 MY Chrysler 200, Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger sedans
2015 Dodge Challenger sports coupes
Image provided by FCA
From maximumpc
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