I found this on another list. Read it for what it's worth -- a copy, that is.
"Here's a very interesting article on cracking a car's computers and
communications. It's about cars, but I figure bikes will follow soon. In
fact, I seem to recall some BMWs already use the CAN bus for onboard
computer communications.
I couldn't help but think of the development of the Arpanet/Internet
when I read this about cars' computers -- a great idea with an amazing
potential, but built with little or no thought to security.
Experimental Security Analysis of a Modern Automobile
http://www.autosec.org/pubs/cars-oakland2010.pdfAbstract—Modern automobiles are no longer mere mechanical
devices; they are pervasively monitored and controlled by
dozens of digital computers coordinated via internal vehicular
networks. While this transformation has driven major advancements
in efficiency and safety, it has also introduced a range of
new potential risks. In this paper we experimentally evaluate
these issues on a modern automobile and demonstrate the
fragility of the underlying system structure. We demonstrate
that an attacker who is able to infiltrate virtually any Electronic
Control Unit (ECU) can leverage this ability to completely
circumvent a broad array of safety-critical systems. Over a
range of experiments, both in the lab and in road tests, we
demonstrate the ability to adversarially control a wide range
of automotive functions and completely ignore driver input—
including disabling the brakes, selectively braking individual
wheels on demand, stopping the engine, and so on. We find
that it is possible to bypass rudimentary network security
protections within the car, such as maliciously bridging between
our car’s two internal subnets. We also present composite
attacks that leverage individual weaknesses, including an attack
that embeds malicious code in a car’s telematics unit and
that will completely erase any evidence of its presence after a
crash. Looking forward, we discuss the complex challenges in
addressing these vulnerabilities while considering the existing
automotive ecosystem."
