Tesla: Dangerous vulnerability - 19-year-old Bavarian hacks into more than 20 electric cars

Created: 01/25/2022, 12:23 p.m

By: Patricia Huber

A 19-year-old discovered a security vulnerability at Tesla.

© MiS/Imago Images

Hacking a Tesla is impossible?

A 19-year-old has now managed to do just that - and drew attention to an important security gap.

Palo Alto - Open and lock the car or turn on the heating with your smartphone.

All of this is now possible at Tesla*.

However, these functions, which seem very practical at first glance, can also become a potential danger.

Because the new technology is also susceptible to hacker attacks.

Tesla: 19-year-old has access to cars in ten different countries

Even 19-year-old David Colombo from Bavaria has shown that.

The founder of an IT security company wrote on Twitter: "So now I have full remote control of over 20 Teslas in ten countries and there seems to be no way to find the owners and inform them..."

Colombo has no bad intentions.

He just wants to draw attention to the security gap.

According to him, however, this does not lie with Tesla itself, but with the owners of the cars.

It would therefore also be important for him to draw the vehicle owners' attention to this.

Tesla: Hack allows opening windows and doors

But what does his hack enable him to do anyway?

In the comments, he explains that he could turn off the security system, open windows and doors and start the engine.

He can also see if the driver is currently near the car.

For criminals, these insights would be an absolute dream.

The vulnerability could allow hackers to open doors, turn headlights on and off, or play loud music while driving.

This could lead to dangerous situations and even accidents.

However, Colombo also has good news: he cannot take full control of the car.

Steering and braking would therefore not be possible.

Tesla has already become aware of the problem and has announced that it will review the vulnerability.