Cyber expert warns of 'hallucinations' caused by hijackers while on the move
EVIL technology has been discovered by researchers and could cause self-driving cars to go off course.
Called the MadRadar hack, it can bypass self-driving cars' cybersecurity software and hallucinate the vehicle.
This is especially dangerous because a self-driving car can be tricked into thinking there is a vehicle on the road.
The vehicle can then swerve when not necessary, leaving the passenger in a vulnerable position.
The MadRadar hack could also hide vehicles that are actually on the road.
These findings will be presented later this month at the Network and Distributed System Security Symposium 2024 in San Diego.
“Without knowing much about the target car's radar system, we can make a fake vehicle appear out of nowhere or a real vehicle disappear in real-world experiments.
“We are not building these systems to hurt anyone, we are demonstrating the existing problems with current radar systems to show that we need to fundamentally change the way we design them,” said Professor Miroslav Pajic, the lead author of the study.
The researchers are concerned that hijackers could use this technology to steal vehicles.
It is thought they can steer a vehicle off course to put it in a compromising position.
The hack is carried out remotely and involves manipulating car radars.
Researchers recommend that car manufacturers randomize the operating parameters of the car radar system and implement additional safety measures.
They hope this will prevent disaster attacks.
“Imagine adaptive cruise control, using radar, believing the car in front of me was going faster, causing your own car to go faster, when in reality the speed didn't change at all,” Pajic said.
“If this happened at night, by the time your car cameras found out you'd be in trouble.”
Self-driving cars are on the rise and are expected to become extremely popular in the coming years.