Researcher: Nissan Leaf Vulnerable to Hackers

If yous own a Nissan Leaf, you might want to listen up.

Nextcar Bug art Prominent security researcher Troy Hunt reported this week that information technology'south possible to hack the Nissan Leaf electrical car and have control of its heating and air-conditioning organisation.

The basis of the hack lives within Nissan'due south CarWings, a platform that allows Foliage owners to check the status of their vehicles and command some aspects of its operation. Hunt, forth with other security researchers, found that issuing elementary commands through a Web browser could allow hackers to plough on seat warmers, oestrus a steering cycle, and turn on air conditioning. Maybe more apropos, the effect affected the car fifty-fifty if information technology was completely turned off.

Once the hacker knows the Leaf's VIN, the possibilities to runway and take control over certain functions in the car are staggering. For one, the hacker can rails a person's movements and know where they're going throughout the 24-hour interval. What's worse, by using the bombardment to drain power for certain functions, it's possible the electric vehicle would be left with no juice to let a person to drive.

The findings are function of a broader concern beyond the machine industry into but how safe vehicles truly are. As cars go more connected and Internet connectivity is possible, hackers can run amok. Indeed, some recent hacks have shown how hackers could bring a motorcar to a consummate halt.

Hunt says he gave Nissan a calendar month to address the problem before he went public; it currently remains unpatched. What'due south worse, the use of VINs means hackers would only accept to guess the terminal five characters. The characters before the first five are usually based on country, make, and model, leaving hackers with only the ending characters to place.

That said, while the hack is worrisome, it could exist worse. Hunt confirmed that if the car is moving, it's impossible to hack into the Leaf. He added that it will not control whether the car volition motility and cannot finish information technology while it'due south in motion. Withal, "Nissan needs to fix this," he says.

This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.