Feds Probe E65/E66 BMW 7-Series after Cars Break Free

U.S. safety regulators are investigating an estimated 120,000 BMW 7-Series sedans from the 2002 to 2008 model years (E65 and E66) after receiving a complaint from a consumer alleging a roll-away incident after parking and exiting a 2006MY BMW 7 Series.
According to the complaint filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA], the vehicle was fitted with BMW's Comfort Access electronic access and ignition system and an electronic transmission shifter with the gear selector mounted on the steering column.
The shifter automatically puts the vehicle in Park under a variety of conditions, including after the driver has pressed the ignition button to turn the engine off.
The safety agency said BMW submitted additional reports describing other rollaway incidents in "similarly equipped" 2002-2008MY BMW 7-Series vehicles.
"Thus far, no cause has been identified for any of the rollaway incidents," NHTSA said in a statement adding that "a Preliminary Evaluation has been opened to assess the scope, frequency and causes of rollaway incidents in the subject vehicles".

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Hacking your Car through a Smart Phone

Security consulting firm iSec Partners warns drivers that thieves could exploit smart phone apps that allow the unlocking and starting of cars remotely.

Researchers Don Bailey and Mathew Solnik have hacked the protocols some of these apps use and demonstrated how they can take advantage of them using a laptop.
According to Mr. Bailey, the whole process of hacking and improvising the signals these apps send – what he dubs “war texting” – can take as little as two hours.
Mr. Bailey will discuss the research at Black Hat Technical Security Conference in Las Vegas this week. Of course, he won’t name the products or provide full technical details of Mr. Solnik and his work until the software makers can patch them. GM, Mercedes-Benz and BMW all use the technology in one form or another.
Bailey and his cohort intercepted messages sent between the server and the target vehicle over standard mobile networks. He explains:
"We reverse-engineer the protocol and then we build our own tools to use that protocol to contact that system.”
Researchers at iSec think this is indicative of a more widespread problem created by the proliferation of “cheap and easy” mobile networking technology.
Bailey suspects that security considerations are often minimally addressed, thereby making devices using the technology susceptible to exploitation and misuse.

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