Hackers can take over your car’s computer brain with $20 worth of parts

Hackers plan to keep source code private for now

Modern cars are highly computerized with a computer brain that controls many aspects of the car including brakes, throttle, and lots more. The catch is that so car automakers aren’t dong much to make the car computer system and network secure. A pair of researchers from Spain has devised a hack that allows them to take over the car computer reports Engadget.

The device that does the hacking is built using common off the shelf parts and costs less than $20. The two researchers behind the device say that it can be installed in five minutes. They plan to offer their research during the Black Hat Asia conference.

They do say they will keep the source code private, for now. During testing, the duo says they were able to take over systems on four different cars. The compromised systems include the brakes, alarm, power windows, and more.

In the future the researchers want to include a GSM modem on the device to allow them to control car systems wirelessly from anywhere. Being able to take over the brakes or headlights of the car certainly opens the door to causing a potentially fatal accident. The researchers say they hope their research gets the attention of automakers.