Business & Tech
Wildwood Hacker Charlie Miller Gets Another Brush with Fame
We've told you about him before after his appearance on KWMU. Now he's in one of the publications at the core of the American car industry.
Remember Charlie Miller? He's the Wildwood-boy-made-good, who has put his skills as an "ethical hacker" to work for Apple, Twitter and the U.S. car industry.
We introduced you to him a few weeks ago after his appearance with Don Marsh on KWMU's "St. Louis on the Air."
His latest "brush with fame" put him on the pages of the Detroit Free Press, which serves the heart of the American auto industry, in an article headlined, "Hackers find weaknesses in cars' computer systems."
The articles notes that Miller and partner Chris Valasek, director of intelligence at a Pittsburgh computer security consulting firm, "maneuvered their way into the computer systems of a 2010 Toyota Prius and 2010 Ford Escape through a port used by mechanics."
“We could control steering, braking, acceleration to a certain extent, seat belts, lights, horn, speedometer, gas gauge,” Valasek told the newspaper. The report said, "The two used a federal grant to expose the vulnerability of car computers. Even with their expertise, it took them nine months to get in."
"Ford wouldn’t comment other than a statement saying it takes security seriously, and that Miller and Valasek needed physical access to the cars to hack in."
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Read more about the report and the things the hackers could do with the on-board computers cars carry now.
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