Old Cars 'Tell Tales' by Storing Data That's Never Wiped (itnews.com.au)
- Reference: 0181744752
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/04/18/0621217/old-cars-tell-tales-by-storing-data-thats-never-wiped
- Source link: https://www.itnews.com.au/news/dead-cars-tell-tales-by-storing-data-thats-never-wiped-625023
> Research and development engineer Romain Marchand of Paris headquartered Quarkslab obtained a telematic control unit (TCU) from a salvage yard in Poland... Marchand tore down the TCU, which is based on a Qualcomm system on a chip, and extracted the Linux-based file system from the Micron multi-chip package (MCP) which contained NAND-based non-volatile storage memory. The non-volatile storage contained sensitive information, including system configuration data and more importantly, logs that revealed the vehicle's GPS positions over time.
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> None of that information was encrypted, Marchand told iTnews , which made it possible to collect and retrieve sensitive data of interest. What's more, the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) logs with GPS positions covered the BYD's full journey from the factory in China to its operational life in the United Kingdom, and to its final wrecking in Poland, Marchand [3]explained in an analysis ... The issue is not restricted to BYD, and Marchand added that the hardware architecture of the Chinese car maker's TCU is broadly similar to what can be found in other brands.
[1] https://www.slashdot.org/~Bismillah
[2] https://www.itnews.com.au/news/dead-cars-tell-tales-by-storing-data-thats-never-wiped-625023
[3] https://blog.quarkslab.com/tearing-down-a-car-telematic-unit-and-finding-an-accident-on-facebook.html
That's not an old car (Score:3)
I have an actual old car, and it doesn't store any data, what-so-ever, and doesn't report it to anyone.
Re: (Score:1)
Exactly. This is BYD EV. Absolutely no surprise that it collects and stores all that data. Don't drive an EV when trying to dispose of a body.
Re: (Score:2)
It sounds like a bug. Tesla did the same thing and it resulted in a lot of Teslas dying prematurely because the flash memory wore out due to all the logging.
They tried to charge people to fix it too.
Encryption (Score:2)
I hate how it is always presented like lack of encryption is a bad thing. In many cases it is not. Someone has to have physical control to get to that data. Physical control is the first piece of security. Encryption in many cases after that protects NOTHING from the owners perspective. Encryption after that fact, other than the end to end communications are almost always used AGAINST the owner. Metrics and information that the owner never gets a chance to explicitly deny. I agree with encrypted communicati
BYD sold cars in Europe in 2021 first (Score:2)
So, the 'old car' is a bit of a stretch.
Re: (Score:2)
Since when do you oppose misinformation? Your hero is the king of it.
The real question is why anyone should care. Cars generate this information and expose it long before they end up in a junk yard. The data's been exploited repeatedly, why is the data suddenly a problem once the car is retired?
If any action should be taken, it should be preventing this information from existing at all. That wouldn't make America Great Again, though, no money in it for your party.