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Vehicle Hacking Highlights Importance of Automated Software Updates

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Vehicle Hacking Highlights Importance of Automated Software Updates

 
January 06, 2016

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  By Laura Stotler, TMCnet Contributing Editor

The Internet of Things (IoT) and M2M communications are becoming pervasive, with an estimated five billion M2M connections already in use. And with that number set to jump as high as 27 billion connections by 2024, the market forecast for this sector is pretty aggressive.


The sheer number of devices fueling the M2M market explosion points to an important issue, however, one that is overlooked way too often. M2M connections are powered by applications and software, and software requires updates and licensing agreements. How these updates and licensing structures are handled and maintained can truly make or break an M2M connection.

A recent blog post from Flexera Software, a company that specializes in helping software and application developers monetize and protect their offerings, discussed how Fiat Chrysler dropped the ball significantly by failing to properly handle M2M communications in its Jeep Cherokees. The “connected” cars use Uconnect system software to enable hands-free control of entertainment, navigation and communications, including the setup of Wi-Fi hot spots. That software provided an entry point for two hackers, who were able to hijack a Cherokee wirelessly in a controlled experiment while their friend drove the car. From their laptops, the hackers were able to control the car’s climate and entertainment systems, and more critically, the steering, brakes and transmission.

If Uconnect had been set up for automatic software upgrades, Chrysler might have been able to address the vulnerability immediately. Instead, the company was forced to recall 1.4 million vehicles at a whopping cost of $15 million. Fixing the issue in these vehicles involves having customers manually update the software via a USB stick or visiting a dealership to perform the update. In any case, the manual fix has turned out to be costly, time consuming and completely preventable if automatic software updates had been enabled.

And Chrysler isn’t the only company at risk. By some estimates, there are as many as 471,000 vehicles with vulnerable Uconnect systems in service, a pretty frightening proposition. If nothing else, the Jeep hack has created awareness in the OEM community about the importance of being able to push software updates directly to M2M devices. This can be accomplished through a variety of software and firmware update solutions that may be delivered wirelessly, on the fly, like those offered by Flexera Software.

Machina Research estimates the total revenue opportunity for M2M connections will reach $1.6 trillion by 2024, with the majority of value coming from devices. Cellular connections are expected to grow alongside M2M, reaching 2.2 billion connections by 2024. And more than half of those connections are expected to be made up of the “Connected Car,” in the form of factory-embedded systems and aftermarket devices. OEMs and software developers will certainly be looking for efficient and secure ways to update these systems and devices remotely to protect customers as well as their own investments.




Edited by Maurice Nagle

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