Security expert warns of TPMS hacking dangers

ERJ staff report (DS)

Las Vegas -- A speaker at the prestigious DefCon conference in Las Vegas last week warned that unencrypted radio frequency communications between a tyre pressure monitoring system (TPMS) and the car's engine control unit, may be open to abuse by malicious individuals

Mike Metzger, who runs his own company, Flexible Creations, said the RF receiver on the TPMS unit has a direct link into the car's main control computer. Although Metzger has not managed to compromise the ECU, he said he had managed to hack into the TPMS system and manipulate its data.

If Metzger could get into the main computer, then he would have access to Cruise Control and other vehicle settings.

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Speaker profile from Defcon organisers

Article from Network World from source