A 19-year-old researcher who specializes in discovering security vulnerabilities in software and operating systems has claimed success in controlling various functions in 25 cars produced by luxury electric car maker Tesla, across 13 countries.
David Colombo said that his success was not due to loopholes in the Tesla company’s applications in cars, but rather because of the mistakes by each of the car’s respective owners.
The white-hat hacker announced his success in gaining access to the car systems through Twitter.
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The 19-year-old said that he was able to know whether the driver was inside or outside the car, and was able to start the engine remotely and determine the exact location of the car, as well as control the doors and windows. However, he stated that he was unable to control the vehicle’s steering nor reduce its speed to reduce the risk of collisions.
“However, I can now remotely command more than 25 Tesla cars in 13 countries without their owners knowing. In terms of what I can do with Tesla cars now, this includes disabling the anti-theft alarm, controlling doors and windows, and starting the car without a key,” said Colombo.
Colombo said he had informed Tesla’s data security officials of the vulnerabilities he had successfully accessed and exploited.
