A virus-like MP3 could take control of your car.

                               


Scientists have now warned that it’s not just your computer that’s at risk of malware-dodgy MP3s can now take over your car.

Last year, a team of researchers at the US Centre for Automotive Embedded Systems Security revealed how automobile computer systems could via an access point typically used by engineers to download data on the vehicle’s health, reports New Scientists.

Through this, they were able to hijack the car, allowing the researchers to disable the brakes, turn the engine on and off, and control electrical systems such as the odometer, lights, climate control, radio and locks.

Building on this, a team of security experts, led by Stefan Savage, have now identified a variety of weak points through which hackers can gain access to a vehicle’s systems remotely.

In one example, cellphone hardware installed in luxury cars was attacked, allowing the team to inject malicious code into the car’s electronic controls.

In theory, hackers could then sell the car to a thief, giving them its location and unlocking it remotely. The team also managed to take control of the car using a Trojan app on a phone that used an Android operating system and had been paired with the car’s Bluetooth system.

Another weak point identified was the stereo system, often integrated into other electronic systems such as climate control and GPS.

The researchers were able to show that software embedded in an MP3 file could install itself into the car’s firmware, enabling similar exploits to those above.

If the car had a self-parking system, it could in theory be driven away by the hacker.