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1. Embed this notice
   Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 08:06:53 JST Paul Cantrell

   • GhostOnTheHalfShell
   • `Da Elf

   Pay attention what @GhostOnTheHalfShell and @elfin are saying!

   What’s this about? In theory, it is totally possible that somebody could mass-hack every Tesla in the world with some sort of malicious code.

   Almost all modern cars are vulnerable to this kind of attack, but the threat with Teslas is far larger because (1) “self-driving” means the computer has far more control over physical parts, (2) Tesla is currently a political target, for both activists and (because it is now tethered to the US regime) nation-states, and (3) EVs burn really, really hot. https://masto.ai/@GhostOnTheHalfShell/114089494453217620

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 08:08:30 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     In theory, it’s possible.

     And in practice? Well, do we really believe that the company whose cybertrucks catch fire at ••60 times•• the average rate has competently secured their software?!?

     Sooner or later, there’s going to be some kind of hair-raising mass compromise of vehicles. When — not if — that happens, I hope and pray it’s some activists with a conscience, and not a malicious actor who actually wants to hurt people. Because the possibilties of the latter are…•terrifying•.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 08:10:58 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     To that end, I’m with the quoted posts: it would be better for us all if some ethical activists execute some mass compromise of Teslas that is relatively harmless to humans ASAP, to raise the alarm bells (and tank Tesla’s stock price) before somebody more malicious gets to it first.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 08:12:16 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     Just to drive it home, the title of this book •is• on this topic and is •not• an accident or an exaggeration:

     https://www.schneier.com/books/click-here/

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 08:12:52 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • GhostOnTheHalfShell
     • `Da Elf

     @GhostOnTheHalfShell @elfin
     Has there been a cargo ship incident? I haven’t heard about it!

   • Embed this notice
     GhostOnTheHalfShell (ghostonthehalfshell@masto.ai)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 08:12:53 JST GhostOnTheHalfShell

     in reply to

     • `Da Elf

     @inthehands @elfin

     They also burned forever. Fire department let them burn themselves out and that can take several hours.

     It’s catastrophic when one of these things were in the electric vehicle catches fire on a cargo ship. It will destroy almost all the inventory.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 08:14:38 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Don Marti

     @dmarti
     My own vote for a hack would be to brick every Tesla (i.e. render it unstartable) while at rest. Enough to cause catastrophic reputational damage — which, say, an “unwanted fart sounds” prank would not — but unlikely to result in mass injury.

   • Embed this notice
     Don Marti (dmarti@federate.social)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 08:14:40 JST Don Marti

     in reply to

     @inthehands good point, there's already a fart sound effects feature on those things, hopefully the compromise will be annoying and not dangerous.

     Did you ever see the old Reddit thread where a former Tesla employee wrote about ssh-ing in to people's cars?

   • Embed this notice
     Suzanne Aldrich (she/her) (suzannealdrich@hachyderm.io)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 08:19:29 JST Suzanne Aldrich (she/her)

     in reply to

     @inthehands would bricking the car require replacement/repair under warranty? Could cause direct financial harm to Tesla with that.

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 08:42:27 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • GhostOnTheHalfShell
     • `Da Elf
     • M Schommer

     @musevg @GhostOnTheHalfShell @elfin
     Yup. The “all burst into flames” scenarios specifically is one of the nightmares I’m hoping we never encounter — and that could absolutely happen. There’s no way it would not involve catastrophic human damage and loss of life. I want these OTA updates clamped down before we get there.

   • Embed this notice
     M Schommer (musevg@hostux.social)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 08:42:29 JST M Schommer

     in reply to

     • GhostOnTheHalfShell
     • `Da Elf

     @inthehands
     Well… imagine a sci-fi plot in which - by some unknown cause - a significant number of cars by a certain brand would suddenly burst into flames at roughly the same time (without injuring drivers or causing other damage, of course).
     Imagine the damage to the insurance companies. Imagine the insurance premiums rise afterwards: Cars by that maker will become basically uninsurable.
     @GhostOnTheHalfShell @elfin

   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 08:52:28 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • GhostOnTheHalfShell
     • `Da Elf
     • M Schommer

     @musevg @GhostOnTheHalfShell @elfin
     I just don’t think you can start fire on that kind of scale without hurting people. At the very least, it would pull firefighters away from other emergencies.

   • Embed this notice
     M Schommer (musevg@hostux.social)'s status on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 08:52:29 JST M Schommer

     in reply to

     • GhostOnTheHalfShell
     • `Da Elf

     @inthehands
     Well, the bad (?) guys would be clever enough to roll out their attack only to cars in a certain status, like parked for the night, in an open air parking space (no garage)…

     @GhostOnTheHalfShell @elfin