In the wake of the demonstration of a vulnerability in the "connected car" software used in a large number of Chrysler and Dodge vehicles in the United States, Fiat Chrysler NV announced today that it was recalling approximately 1.4 million vehicles for emergency security patches.
The company has already issued a patch on its website for drivers, and on Thursday it performed an over-the-air update of some vehicles to block unauthorized remote access, Bloomberg Business reports. The vulnerability, revealed in a report by Wired earlier this week, allowed security researchers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek to take remote control of a Jeep Cherokee's onboard computer and entertainment system, remotely controlling the throttle of the vehicle while a Wired reporter was driving it at 70mph on a St. Louis-area interstate highway. Miller and Valasek also demonstrated that they could take control of the vehicle's brakes and (in some cases) even its steering, as well as the vehicle's windshield wipers, navigation, and entertainment systems.
The vehicles covered by the recall include the 2015 model year Dodge Ram pickup, Dodge's Challenger and Viper, and the Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee SUVs. While Fiat Chrysler officials said that there was no known real-world use of the vulnerablity (outside Miller's and Valasek's proof of concept), they were taking the recall step out of "an abundance of caution."
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