Teslas Being Hacked for $$

A well known kind of security breach worked on a Tesla.  Big finding reward.  Expected to be remotely fixed.

Pwn2Own Hackers Breach a Tesla Twice,   By PC Magazine, March 29, 2023

Tesla’s security response team validated the results. The automaker is expected to issue over-the-air fixes to patch the flaws, according to SecurityWeek.

Participants of the Pwn2Own software exploitation conference hacked technology from automaker Tesla twice at the Zero Day Initiative's Pwn2Own software exploitation conference, earning $350,000 and a Model 3 infotainment system.

The team from French security company Synacktiv executed a time-of-check-to-time-of-use (TOCTOU) exploit against a Tesla Gateway, then employed a heap overflow and an out-of-band write vulnerability to gain access to and compromise the Model 3.

Pwn2Own describes a TOCTOU exploit as a "file-based race condition that occurs when a resource is checked for a particular value, and that value changes before the resource is used, invalidating the results of the check."

SecurityWeek said Tesla is expected to release patches to correct the flaws exposed by the Synacktiv hacks.

From PC Magazine  

Tesla Autopilots Still a Problem

Seems a fundamental are of their autopilot system.  No resulting injuries known. 

Tesla recalls 363,000 cars over self-driving software  in the BBC

Tesla is updating its self-driving software after US safety officials raised concerns that it could allow drivers to exceed speed limits or travel through intersections unsafely.

The recall affects nearly 363,000 vehicles in the US, according to filings with the US government.

Tesla said it was not aware of any injuries or deaths related to the issues.

US authorities have been investigating the firm's autopilot system.

Officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) met with Tesla in January to raise concerns about the "full self-driving beta" software, according to the recall notice.

NHTSA said the system allowed behaviour that could "infringe" on local laws or customs such as driving through a yellow light, travelling straight through an intersection from a turn-only lane or not coming to full stop at a stop sign.

"FSD Beta software that allows a vehicle to exceed speed limits or travel through intersections in an unlawful or unpredictable manner increases the risk of a crash," it said. ... ' 

Putting Limits to Vehicle Tech

Limits of autonomous vehicle tech?

Carmakers Are Pushing Autonomous Tech. This Engineer Wants Limits.   By The New York Times.February 16, 2023

Systems like General Motors Super Cruise can steer, brake and accelerate vehicles on their own.

Companies sometimes market these systems as if they made cars autonomous. But their legal fine print requires drivers to stay alert and be ready to take control of the vehicle at any time.

Last fall, Missy Cummings sent a document to her colleagues at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that revealed a surprising trend: When people using advanced driver-assistance systems die or are injured in a car crash, they are more likely to have been speeding than people driving cars on their own.

The two-page analysis of nearly 400 crashes involving systems like Tesla's Autopilot and General Motors' Super Cruise is far from conclusive. But it raises fresh questions about the technologies that have been installed in hundreds of thousands of cars on U.S. roads. Dr. Cummings said the data indicated that drivers were becoming too confident in the systems' abilities and that automakers and regulators should restrict when and how the technology was used.

People "are over-trusting the technology," she said. "They are letting the cars speed. And they are getting into accidents that are seriously injuring them or killing them."

From The New York Times

View Full Article    

Elon Musk sells $3.6bn of shares in electric car maker Tesla

New movement in tech oriented stock, Elon Musk sells $3.6bn of shares in electric car maker Tesla  in the BBC

Published, 11 hours ago, Elon Musk takes part in a news conference at the SpaceX Starbase.

By Peter Hoskins, BBC Business reporter

Multi-billionaire Elon Musk has sold another 22 million shares, worth $3.58bn (£2.9bn), in the electric car maker Tesla., The shares were sold on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, according to a filing with a US financial regulator.

It brings the total of Tesla stocks sold by Mr Musk over the past year to almost $40bn., Earlier this week Mr Musk lost his position as the world's richest person.

The reason for the latest share sales has not been disclosed., He remains Tesla's biggest shareholder with a 13.4% stake, according to financial market data provider Refinitiv.

Last month Mr Musk revealed that he had sold 19.5 million shares of Tesla worth $3.95bn, just days after completing a $44bn takeover of social media platform Twitter.  ... ' 

Who is Responsible? Autopilot?

 More such events to follow and to be analyzed. 

Manslaughter Case Has a Strange Twist: Tesla That Killed Couple Was on Autopilot

By Futurism, November 2, 2022

A provocative manslaughter case is about to kick off in Los Angeles later this month, involving a fatal crash caused by a Tesla vehicle that had the company's controversial Autopilot feature turned on.

It's the first case of its kind, and one that could set a precedent for future crashes involving cars and driver-assistance software, Reuters reports.

We won't know the exact defense until the case gets under way, but the crux is that the man who was behind the wheel of the Tesla is facing manslaughter charges — but has pleaded not guilty, setting up potentially novel legal arguments about culpability in a deadly collision when, technically speaking, it wasn't a human driving the car.

From Futurism

View Full Article    

Tesla Humanoid Robotics

 Was asked to comment on this, on status, direction and effort involved.  Pointers? 

Tesla is borrowing Autopilot team for Optimus humanoid robot project  in Electric

Fred Lambert - Sep. 20th 2022 3:14 am PT

The CEO has said that the Tesla Bot project has become a priority.

Tesla’s approach to selling Autopilot, and now its Full Self-Driving (FSD) package features before they are ready, is creating some pressure to deliver, but Tesla has missed several timelines already.

CEO Elon Musk has talked about Tesla turning its fleet into 1 million “robotaxi” vehicles by the end of the year, but the goal has now changed to expanding its FSD Beta program, which is still far from being able to perform a robotaxi service.

Many customers are getting impatient to the point that some have filed a class action lawsuit against Tesla over its claims about Autopilot and the FSD package.

Some were also worried that Tesla was spreading itself thin when adding its Optimus humanoid robot project to its plate, and Musk even said that the robot has become a “top priority” at Tesla.

Tesla planned to leverage its work on computer vision for self-driving to use in the robot, which raised concerns considering the automaker has yet to deliver on its self-driving promises despite selling the feature to customers.

Now when an owner asked Musk about a fix in Autopilot on Twitter last night, the CEO seems to suggest that it would have to wait because the Autopilot team is working on Optimus:

Note, Autopilot/AI team is also working on Optimus and (actually smart) summon/autopark, which have end of month deadlines., The deadline at the end of the month for Optimus is the Tesla AI Day 2, during which the company is expected to unveil its first working prototype of the robot.

Tesla apparently also plans to unveil an updated version of its “Smart Summon” and Autopark features at the vent.  Is Tesla spreading itself too thin with this robot project? Should Tesla focus on delivering on its self-driving promises? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

On the Tesla Data Hoard

Consider the Depth and Breadth of Data Use

The Radical Scope of Tesla’s Data Hoard Logs and records of its customers’ journeys fill out petabytes—and court case dockets    By Mark HARRIS  in Spectrum IEEE

You won’t see a single Tesla cruising the glamorous beachfront in Beidaihe, China, this summer. Officials banned Elon Musk’s popular electric cars from the resort for two months while it hosts the Communist Party’s annual retreat, presumably fearing what their built-in cameras might capture and feed back to the United States.

Back in Florida, Tesla recently faced a negligence lawsuit after two young men died in a fiery car crash while driving a Model S belonging to a father of one of the accident victims. As part of its defense, the company submitted a historical speed analysis showing that the car had been driven with a daily top speed averaging over 90 miles per hour (145 kilometers per hour) in the months before the crash. This information was quietly captured by the car and uploaded to Tesla’s servers. (A jury later found Tesla just 1 percent negligent in the case.)

Meanwhile, every recent-model Tesla reportedly records a breadcrumb GPS trail of every trip it makes—and shares it with the company. While this data is supposedly anonymized, experts are skeptical.

Alongside its advances in electric propulsion, Tesla’s innovations in data collection, analysis, and usage are transforming the automotive industry, and society itself, in ways that appear genuinely revolutionary.  ... ' 

Is the Tesla Data Hoard Secure?

 Secure data?

The Radical Scope of Tesla’s Data Hoard Logs and records of its customers’ journeys fill out petabytes—and court case dockets        By MARK HARRIS in IEEE Spectrum

You won’t see a single Tesla cruising the glamorous beachfront in Beidaihe, China, this summer. Officials banned Elon Musk’s popular electric cars from the resort for two months while it hosts the Communist Party’s annual retreat, presumably fearing what their built-in cameras might capture and feed back to the United States.

Back in Florida, Tesla recently faced a negligence lawsuit after two young men died in a fiery car crash while driving a Model S belonging to a father of one of the accident victims. As part of its defense, the company submitted a historical speed analysis showing that the car had been driven with a daily top speed averaging over 90 miles per hour (145 kilometers per hour) in the months before the crash. This information was quietly captured by the car and uploaded to Tesla’s servers. (A jury later found Tesla just 1 percent negligent in the case.)

Meanwhile, every recent-model Tesla reportedly records a breadcrumb GPS trail of every trip it makes—and shares it with the company. While this data is supposedly anonymized, experts are skeptical.

Alongside its advances in electric propulsion, Tesla’s innovations in data collection, analysis, and usage are transforming the automotive industry, and society itself, in ways that appear genuinely revolutionary.  ... '

Who Owns Teslas Data?

 The Ownership of data developed in process.

Who Actually Owns Tesla’s Data?  The company, says the company—but other interpretations persist By MARK HARRIS   in IEEE Spectrum

On 29 September 2020, a masked man entered a branch of the Wells Fargo bank in Washington, D.C., and handed the teller a note: “This is a robbery. Act calm give me all hundreds.” The teller complied. The man then fled the bank and jumped into a gray Tesla Model S. This was one of three bank robberies the man attempted the same day.

When FBI agents began investigating, they reviewed Washington, D.C.’s District Department of Transportation camera footage, and spotted a Tesla matching the getaway vehicle’s description. The license plate on that car showed that it was registered to Exelorate Enterprises LLC, the parent company of Steer EV—a D.C.-based monthly vehicle-subscription service.

Agents served a subpoena on Steer EV for the renter’s billing and contact details. Steer EV provided those—and also voluntarily supplied historical GPS data for the vehicle. The data showed the car driving between, and parking at, each bank at the time of the heists. The renter was arrested and, in September, sentenced to four years in prison.  ... ' 

Bluetooth Hack can Unlock Tesla

This will get further attention. 

Bluetooth Hack Can Unlock Tesla, Devices  By Ars Technica

Sultan Qasim Khan at U.K.-based security firm NCC Group has devised an exploit for unlocking Teslas and countless other devices by hacking the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standard. The simplest form of this relay attack involves two hackers who share data through an open Internet connection, and are respectively close to the Tesla and the authenticating phone. 

Attacker 1 captures the authenticating request from the Tesla and sends it to Attacker 2, who forwards the request to the phone and records and sends the phone-transmitted credential to Attacker 1, who then can unlock the car. The hack thwarts countermeasures like encrypting phone-transmitted credentials, and Khan said practically any BLE device that authenticates on proximity alone is susceptible., 

The hack, which exploits weaknesses in the Bluetooth Low Energy standard, can be used to unlock doors, open and operate vehicles, and gain unauthorized access to a host of laptops and other security-sensitive devices  ... 

In Ars Technica: 

Tesla Hacking Possible

 Probably possible in many modern automobile applications, good to see the warning early.

Third-Party Software for Teslas Can Be Hacked, German Teen Says

Bloomberg, Katrina Nicholas; Jordan Robertson, January 12, 2022

German teenager David Colombo claims to have discovered flaws in third-party software that could allow hackers to remotely hijack certain functions of Tesla cars. He tweeted that the software insecurely stores data required to link the cars to the software, which hackers could steal and use to send malicious commands to the vehicles. Colombo reportedly exploited the vulnerability to unlock doors and windows, start cars without keys, and deactivate their security; he also said he could see if a driver was in the vehicle, turn on stereo systems, and flash headlights. Colombo said he was able to access over 25 Teslas in at least 13 countries via the flaw. He asked Bloomberg not to publish specifics of the exploit, as the company that makes the affected software has not yet released a patch.

Tesla Hacked from Drone without a Click

But, It is stated that you cannot get driving control of the car from the hack.

Tesla Car Hacked Remotely From Drone via Zero-Click Exploit

By Eduard Kovacs   in SecurityWeek   Via piece in Schneier  (Which often will contain thoughtful comments) 

Two researchers have shown how a Tesla — and possibly other cars — can be hacked remotely without any user interaction. They carried out the attack from a drone.

This was the result of research conducted last year by Ralf-Philipp Weinmann of Kunnamon and Benedikt Schmotzle of Comsecuris. The analysis was initially carried out for the Pwn2Own 2020 hacking competition — the contest offered a car and other significant prizes for hacking a Tesla — but the findings were later reported to Tesla through its bug bounty program after Pwn2Own organizers decided to temporarily eliminate the automotive category due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The attack, dubbed TBONE, involves exploitation of two vulnerabilities affecting ConnMan, an internet connection manager for embedded devices. An attacker can exploit these flaws to take full control of the infotainment system of a Tesla without any user interaction.  ... 

VW Will Design its own Self-Driving Chips

 Perhaps expected, adds some control, link to driving data

VW will design its own chips for self-driving cars in Engadget

It's borrowing its strategy from Apple and Tesla.

Volkswagen won't settle for off-the-shelf computing power with its self-driving cars. As Reuters (via Autoblog) reports, company chief Herbert Diess told Handelsblatt in an interview that VW will design its own high-performance chips for autonomous vehicles. It was a matter of eking out the best possible hardware, Diess said — much like Apple and Tesla, the move would give VW "higher competence" in defining its processors.  ... ' 

Tesla Could Widen Release of Self Driving Software

 More data being gathered, and likely getting closer to sharing roads with many more fully self-driving vehicles.

Tesla could widen release of 'self-driving' software in two weeks   By Reuters Staff

 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Friday there will probably be a wider roll out of a new “Full Self Driving” software update in two weeks. In October, Tesla released a beta, or test version, of what it calls a “Full Self Driving” software upgrade to an undisclosed number of “expert, careful” drivers.

“Probably going to a wider beta in 2 weeks,” Musk said on Twitter, in a reply to a user asking if the software would be available in Minnesota. .... " 

Tesla's Approach to Innovation

Been impressed, now how long will it last?

Lessons from Tesla’s Approach to Innovation
By Nathan Furr, Jeff Dyer in HBR

Few companies have attracted as much scorn and adoration as Tesla. When Tesla launches a product like the Cybertruck, the reception tends to be divisive: critics see it as further evidence that founder Elon Musk is out of touch and doomed to fail, while supporters buy in — within a month Tesla received 200,000 preorders for the new vehicle. Compare that to the Ford-150, the world’s best-selling car in 2018, which sold just over 1 million vehicles that year.  ... "

Tesla Releases some of its Code

Intriguing, but as you might expect, the autopilot is very technical.   Tesla is not known for releasing its source code.   Hardly directly understandable, but gives you an impression of the complexity involved.  I am still of the school that says you may not want to release all your code secrets.

More overview:
Tesla releases source code for some of its in-car tech ....It's not everything, but it's finally here. ... " 

By Jon Fingas, @jonfingas  in Engadget

Driver Assistance vs Autopilots

Interesting story of varying language being used in describing the idea of 'driver assistance' when using and selling the Tesla.   Our language has to adapt to the physical consequences  And the legal consequences.  In ArsTechnica.