Report: Cars are vulnerable to wireless hacking

[happyslug]

44. That is why I buy a car with a Manual Transmission

With a Manual Transmission i.e. one with a clutch, it is a direct MECHANICAL leakage between the Gearbox and the Transmission. In such a transmission you always have the option of neutral. If you opt for a Car with mechanical doors and windows, you can escape after the car coasts to a stop (even as the engine it revving as top speed). My car also has an Rack and Pinion Steering with power assist.

Now, it is possible to design a car today with "Drive by Wire" technology. This is a variation of "Fly by Wire" used in Military aircraft since the 1960s and by commercial aircraft since the 1970s. Instead of direct MECHANICAL LEAKAGE between the wheel and the front wheels, you have electronic wires from one to the other. You turn the wheels 10 degree, an electronic message is sten to the wheel to turn 10 degrees. In old cars this was achieved by direct mechanical leakage. "Power Steering" in older cars was direct mechanical leakage but with hydraulic assistance to provide additional power as you turned the wheel. Today, you can provide that power steering without the direct mechanical leakage by using electrical power and a microprocessor to control the amount of the turn. Technically you can do the same with the brakes, pushing the brake pedal sends a message down a electrical wire to the brakes to operate. In older cars brakes were mechanically leaked with the brake pedal.

Now, such "Drive by Wire" technology is not cheap, but you avoid all of the parts needed to connect the brakes to the brake pedal, and the steering wheel to the wheels. Thus it may be cost effective to use a "Drive by Wire" system then to design mechanical leakage for every car you make. In regards to steering, you do not have to work the Steering leakage around the engine, or the engine around the steering mechanism. Brakes are easier to work around, most use hydraulic systems even if NOT powered assisted. Thus you can put the brake tube almost anywhere around the engine and transmission and body. The disadvantage of such systems is they do leak and must be 100% leak proof. In reality this is less of a problem then it sounds, for most brake systems rarely leak and when they do you feel the result in the braking, most times while before it causes an accident.

On the other hand, electrical brakes can send a signal to the computer if they are working or not (An electronic signal can be hooked up to a true Manual or Hydraulic system, but then you are running two lines, the brake cable or hydraulic line AND a electronic line that sends a message back to the main CPU in the Automobile if the brake are working or not).

Automakers like Hydraulic systems for such systems have been using them since at least the 1930s. They work. Some cars still have mechanical hand brakes that use cables but to my knowledge all cars made in the last 50 years use hydraulic brakes, do to the extra power such brake provide EVEN if not power assisted (and most if not all cars sold today have power brakes which means power assisted hydraulic brakes).

Now, I do NOT know how far such "Drive by Wire" systems have gone, but I can see the advantages of them. The main advantage is the ability to put the wires anywhere unlike mechanical leakage that has to connect to each other is a fairly sold way (more important in Steering then Brakes). You can put the automatic transmission anywhere, you do not have to worry about direct mechanical connection between the gear shift and the transmission, that can be done by a wire.

The down side, no electrical power you have nothing. Technically the computer that runs the car could take over the transmission, the engine, the brakes, the windows the doors etc. You can not escape and you have no control over the car.

Given the complexity of any vehicle, I see "Drive by Wire" becoming the norm over the next 20 years. Most people will NOT notice the difference for most people just jump in their car, start it and zoom off. That the systems of the Auto is operated by Cable, Hydraulics or electrical wires they do NOT care, what they care about is it moving down the word.

The plus side is given the number of vehicles produced, such "Drive by wire" should reduce the costs of such vehicles do to less actual work on each model. The down side is given now many cars are produced the savings will NOT be that much for the older systems higher costs, once designed can be spread over a lot of cars.

Thus high end cars are going to get these systems before low end cars. Cars that the car makers make less than 20,000 a year will be the first target. The reason is the costs of developing a traditional system may be high in such cars do to the low volume of such cars. i.e spread the costs of development over 20,000 cars instead of 200,000 cars of a more popular model. i,e Mercedes vs Volkswagen or Cadillac vs Chevrolet.

How fast will such "Drive by Wire" systems will be adopted, I do not know, but it appears that high end car makers are embracing it big time. The cost saving, on such low volume cars, would be immense.

Do not worry, I suspect the Government will NOT require such systems. Such systems could be used to stop speeding by the simple act of requiring a Transmitter/Receiver that can take messages from the side of the road and that tells the car to stay below the speed limit no matter how much the driver hits the gas. This would be a better way to reduce speeding and Accidents but it would reduce the number of tickets that the police can issue. Most Police (and almost all Police outside the older larger inner cities) depend on such tickets to pay for their police departments. No tickets, not police. Thus such Transmitter/Receivers will NOT be required for they would stop such revenue. Given most State Legislators do NOT want to raise taxes to pay for their State Police AND that is also true of Suburbia, there will be no push for such Transmitter/Receivers even if it become clear the costs of such systems are dirt cheap, easy to install, if bypassed can be readily detected, AND REDUCED ACCIDENTS AND DEATHS. The desire to have traffic tickets pay for police is to great to use another method to reduce accidents, even if the other method is clearly more effective.

Such a System can be started today, and slow down the newer cars who in turn will slow down older cars. As the older cars are replaced, they will slow down traffic to what is the speed limit. It is a workable system but I do not see it being adopted for to many State and Local Government expect the police to be a revenue source NOT a drain on the taxes of the state.