Just when you thought driving a modern, high-tech car was safer than an old classic, Thehackernews.com recently revealed that a series of software flaws affecting millions of cars from 16 different manufacturers can be hacked to unlock, manage and track vehicles. It also affects the privacy of the car owner.
Security vulnerabilities have been found in the APIs of cars powered by Acura, BMW, Ferrari, Ford, Genesis, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche, Rolls Royce, Toyota, Software Revive. SiriusXM and Spireon.
The flaws range from those that provide access to internal company systems and user information to vulnerabilities that allow an attacker to remotely send commands to execute code.
The research builds on previous findings from late last year, when Yuga Labs researcher Sam Curry detailed a security flaw in SiriusXM's Connected Vehicles service that could expose vehicles to long-range attacks.
The most serious issue is that the Spireon telecommunications solution can be used to gain full administrative access, allowing the adversary to issue arbitrary commands to nearly 15.5 million devices as well as update device firmware.
"This allows us to track the starts and stops of police, ambulance and law enforcement vehicles in many major cities and to transmit commands to these vehicles," the researchers said.
Other features allow you to access or modify customer records, an internal dealer portal, track a vehicle's GPS location in real time, manage license plate information for all Reviver customers and even to update a vehicle's status as "Stolen".
The interconnectedness of our digital devices makes it more difficult to secure cars, as evidenced by cyber attacks on cars, which have increased by nearly 300% over the past three years, with nearly 90% of these attacks remote.
Obviously, as vehicle technology evolves, so does the complexity of their intelligent software systems. In addition, detecting vulnerabilities in the software supply chain due to "smart" features requires in-depth knowledge of the software, hardware, and protocol systems of connected cars and their respective vehicle systems.
If you are worried, make sure your device is properly serviced, not only physically/operationally, but also with software and platform updates.
Contact your car dealership for regular maintenance.
Joan Griffin's insightful blog about tech stress (is there such a word?) recently got me thinking about the long-term effects. Basically, the premise is that in the modern age, technology has introduced a new kind of threat: information augmentation and a whole new reward system: likes and followers. Both can be addictive and damage our brains.
In an ideal world, our daily use of technology would both increase and decrease stress.
However, mounting evidence indicates that technology-related stress has reached epidemic proportions and could undermine organizational resilience and adoption of new technologies. Technostress is the new character of our time.
Driven by the ubiquitous use of technology in our lives and the increasing digitization of the workplace, this new source of stress is transcending geographic and cultural barriers and wreaking havoc on organizations and societies.
The constant influx of new devices and applications places unprecedented demands on our Paleolithic brains, while dopamine receptors are altered by the digital age, leaving many of us tired and dissatisfied.
The term technostress was coined in 1984 by American psychotherapist Craig Broad.
Even before the digital age, Broad described this new form of stress as "a modern adaptive disease resulting from the inability to properly manage new computer technology."
Like everyday stress, technology can have both positive and negative effects. When technology creates malaise, we are challenged and inspired by opportunities to grow and learn.
In the area of eustress, technological applications can provide satisfaction and pleasure, help us make decisions and allow us to adapt more easily.
By using the best technology, organizations can improve their performance, efficiency and innovation.
On the downside, technical concerns can leave employees feeling ignored and undervalued. Technostress usually occurs in the following situations:
• When there is a high reliance on technology.
• When we realize there is a gap between what we know and what we need to know, and
• We identify changes in work culture brought about by technology.
Such stress seems to give way to physiological symptoms such as fatigue, irritability and insomnia, and psychological symptoms such as depression, increased mental workload, suspiciousness, decreased job satisfaction, decreased engagement and decreased productivity.
Research on the pressures of technology has grown in recent years as we seek to understand the underlying causes of low adoption, failed digital transformation, and decreased productivity in the workplace. Although new findings continue to emerge, technostresses are often analyzed in five main areas.
Each domain serves as a separate "pressure factor" that contributes to the overall level of technology.
These pressures serve as hidden threats to digital adoption and can impede even the smartest implementations of technology.
The five main areas are:
technological advantages
Too much attention, not enough mental space. We have learned that in recent years our human ability to adapt to changing technologies has been compromised by information obesity and overwhelming choice. Trying to keep up with the latest updates and features for all of our apps is nearly impossible. New features often mean something new for us to learn and adapt to. Although technology speeds up tasks, it can inadvertently create more work when production is shifted to humans. The pressure to adapt and stay productive at the same time is a common concern in the age of digital work.
technological invasion
Accelerated by the pandemic, business applications have invaded our personal devices, personal spaces, and personal lives. The line between work and home has blurred, making it difficult to separate from work or focus on hobbies. Our always-on culture means we're within reach of more people, more often. Although we may be invisible when working remotely, we rarely communicate.
Technical complexity
We all come across new technologies that have more features and functions than we need or use. A variety of functions and seemingly endless possibilities can scare away any user. Studies show that employees use only 40% of the capabilities of any software application. No wonder we are disappointed with the digital transformation that promises to make our lives easier. While training can help, a one-size-fits-all approach to classroom learning is rarely an effective way to drive digital adoption. We don't have the time or mental resources to invest in learning and understanding how to use each feature. So we do our best to intuitively navigate new systems, often feeling helpless and incompetent.
Technological insecurity
As technology expands its business footprint, many employees want to understand how it affects them.
techno uncertainty
We realize that technology is changing at an increasingly rapid pace and we are under pressure to learn and adapt to new tools and capabilities faster than ever before. The knowledge and skills we have acquired over the years are becoming obsolete at an accelerating rate, and the need for re-education can erode our brainpower. It's time to prioritize human evolution (and peace of mind) over the technological revolution. As a wise man once remarked. “Always take a moment and smell the roses…” God bless you and stay safe in the digital and physical worlds.
• ILAITIA B. TUISAWAU is a Special Consultant for Cyber Security. The opinions expressed in this article are his own and are not necessarily shared by this newspaper. Mr. Tuisavau can be contacted at ilaitia@cyberbati.com
