The Car Hacking Handbook: A Guide for the Penetration Tester

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The clearest example of this focus on reverse engineering, instead of modifying cars, is Chapter 8, Attacking ECUs and Other Embedded Systems. The Car Hacker’s Handbook will give you a deeper understanding of the computer systems and embedded software in modern vehicles. For my car, resetting the oil life indicator is a simple fix – I just need to push the button on the dash until the oil life indicator starts to blink, release, then hold it again for ten seconds.

I own a 1969 Chevelle convertible, the car shown on the cover of the book, and can attest that there is not one computer, ECM or OBD port in the vehicle.Hacking Connected Carsdeconstructs the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used to hack into connected cars and autonomous vehicles to help you identify and mitigate vulnerabilities affecting cyber-physical vehicles. Craig provides an excellent introduction to what can be done to hack a car, but presents it under the banner of hacking, without cars involved at all. It begins by examining vulnerabilities and providing detailed explanations of communications over the CAN bus and between devices and systems.

Hacking infotainment displays is there, and there’s even a chapter dedicated to Vehicle to Vehicle communications, the next great advancement of our interstate highway system that’s been around for 20 years. That way you (and anyone interested in fixing cars) must either spend money on special software that decodes OBD2 codes, including ones that are manufacturer-specific, or spend money in authorized car service center. Manufacturers and OEMs need the ability to push updates without requiring service visits, but this leaves the vehicle’s systems open to attack. Craig Smith is founder of OpenGarages and author of the Car Hacker’s Handbook which we highly recommend.Passenger vehicles have experienced a massive increase in connectivity over the past five years, and the trend will only continue to grow with the expansion of The Internet of Things and increasing consumer demand for always-on connectivity. Were it not for vehicle-specific communications protocols and mentions of ECUs, The Car Hacker’s Handbook could easily lose the word ‘Car’ from the title. If the MIL doesn’t come on again (and it may very well not), you’ve deferred the repair until after inspection.

Where it can’t last forever I may go ahead and get the book anyway, as it may be useful for a vehicle I’ll own in the future or the vehicles of someone I know. The garage I take my car to is generally okay, they’re more honest than a stealership, but they don’t cross all their t’s and dot all their lowercase j’s. Written by a veteran of risk management and penetration testing of IoT devices and connected cars, this book provides a detailed account of how to perform penetration testing, threat modeling, and risk assessments of telematics control units and infotainment systems. Infotainment and navigation systems, wi-fi, automatic software updates, and other innovations aim to make driving more ­convenient. It will allow you to see what the “check engine” light (MIL) is complaining about, and to clear the fault codes.Craig Smith is one of the founders of Open Garages, one of the best repositories for vehicle documentation that you won’t find in a Haynes manual. The following generic drive cycle can be used as a guideline if a specific drive cycle is not known.