From a local story:
“The search warrant states that the state police want to examine data stored in a device called the airbag control module. The module, which is found in most or all late model vehicles, stores data on vehicle speed; engine RPM; cruise control; brake switch status; throttle position; seat belt switch circuit status; accelerator pedal percentage and crash pulse data for lateral and longitudinal velocity change.
John Townsend, manager of public and government affairs for AAA in the mid-Atlantic region, said few drivers are aware of data-gathering devices in newer vehicles that can be turned against them in court cases. The data contained on the devices can help authorities gather evidence such as the speed of the vehicle at the time an airbag deploys.
Townsend said law enforcement officials can obtain the data either by the permission of the vehicle owner or through a court order like that given for search warrants.
“If you get a car with all the bells and whistles and monitors and everything, then you will be monitored, too,” Townsend said.”
UPDATE:
A friend in DC prominent in the legitimate cybersecurity community (he is also independent) tells me this:
“As I understand it, the information is stored in a temporary file and recorded a few seconds at a time, so I don’t think a long term memory is stored anywhere. However, because it’s connected to so many other systems someone may be able to monitor it remotely.
Surprisingly a lot of information can be accessed remotely and hackers have demonstrated the ability to wreak havoc with vehicles through cyber intrusions (albeit sometimes only at short ranges of proximity to the vehicle). There is a chapter on automotive security in the cyber book I co-edited. One of the recommendations is for car manufacturers to better isolate car radios (which can be hacked) from these types of sensor systems so that if a hacker gains access to the radio they can’t monitor/manipulate the cars internal systems.
At this point, if you don’t drive a car built in the 90s, it’s likely something is hackable.”
As Tom Lehrer sang about the good old days with the Boy Scouts, “Be Prepared!”
10:11 am on November 3, 2016 Email Christopher Manion
