$25 gadget lets hackers seize control of a car

The brains of a modern car, the ECU (Engine Control Unit) is a computer that controls engine power, transmission and braking. Mechanics can diagnose faults by plugging a laptop into it via standard wired connectors such as the CAN bus. Alternatively, remote diagnostics and software updates can take place over a cellular network.

Javier Vázquez Vidal and Alberto Garcia Illera will show how their device – which they claim uses a $1 chip to break encryption – can read from and write data to the flash memory of commonly used ECUs, made by Bosch of Germany.

In this way, they can get more horsepower out of a car, or tell it to burn less fuel. "And it would take no time to gain total control over a vehicle – deploying an airbag, activating the brakes, or immobilising a car at any moment," says Vázquez Vidal.
 
How they have done this is still a mystery...read more at newscientist.com