LONDON: The announcement by FCA US, formerly Chrysler, was made days after reports that cyber security researchers used a wireless connection to turn off a Jeep Cherokee’s engine as it drove, increasing concerns about the safety of internet-enabled vehicles.
The researchers used FCA’s telematics system to break into the on-board computer controller of a volunteer’s Cherokee being driven on the highway and issued commands to the engine, steering and brakes.
The US’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said last week it would investigate whether Fiat Chrysler’s upgrading of the control software was sufficient to protect motorists from hackers.
A spokesman for the safety watchdog said that it was the first recall of vehicles necessitated by concerns about cyber security.
Experts said they hoped it would serve as a wake-up call to the car industry and beyond.
“This internet-of-things concept is a huge problem,” said Nicholas Weaver, a security researcher at the International Computer Science Institute, in Berkeley, California.
He said cars and other products could be designed to be accessible from a variety of sources, as with the Cherokee, or to communicate only with a single server.
Products designed to be accessible by a range of means, including from smartphones, have a large “attack surface” that is easier to penetrate, Weaver said.
The recalled vehicles include the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Cherokee SUVs manufactured since 2014, and 2015 Dodge Challenger sports coupés, among others.
