Tesla Inc (Nasdaq: TSLA) is the latest victim of a cyberattack after hackers accessed its cloud computing system and used it to mine cryptocurrency. Tesla says no customer data was exposed during the breach, but the incident does little to ease drivers’ fears about hackers gaining access to increasingly computerized vehicles.
Cybersecurity firm RedLock reports that hackers gained access to Tesla’s Kubernetes administration console, which was not protected by a password. Through the console, hackers broke into Tesla’s Amazon Web Services account and used its computing power to mine cryptocurrency. RedLock reports the hackers then used several advanced techniques to hide their presence.
RedLock says that it quickly notified Tesla of the issue, and Tesla downplayed the breach’s impact. “We maintain a bug bounty program to encourage this type of research, and we addressed this vulnerability within hours of learning about it,” the company says. “The impact seems to be limited to internally used engineering test cars only, and our initial investigation found no indication that customer privacy or vehicle safety or security was compromised in any way.”
RedLock says leading cloud services providers Amazon.com (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) are doing everything they can to keep clients safe, but the clients themselves must also be diligent about protecting security vulnerabilities on their end.
There have been a number of high-profile corporate hacks in recent years, but the prospect of a hacked auto company is particularly troubling for drivers. While there hasn’t yet been a documented case of a hacker causing a car crash on the road, Tesla was forced to update its Model X vehicles last year after Chinese security researchers were able to access vehicle controls remotely. The researchers were able to turn on the Model X’s brakes, open and close its doors, and blink its headlights in time with music streamed from its audio system.
In 2017, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company is well aware of the dangers of security vulnerabilities. “I think…
Click here to continue reading
Want to learn more about how to profit off the stock market? Or maybe you just want to be able to look sophisticated in front of your coworkers when they ask you what you are reading on your Kindle, and you’d prefer to tell them “Oh, I’m just reading a book about stock market analysis,” rather than the usual “Oh, I’m just looking at pics of my ex-girlfriend on Facebook.” For these reasons and more, check out my book, Beating Wall Street with Common Sense. I don’t have a degree in finance; I have a degree in neuroscience. You don’t have to predict what stocks will do if you can predict what traders will do and be one step ahead of them. I made a 400% return in the stock market over five years using only basic principles of psychology and common sense. Beating Wall Street with Common Sense is now available on Amazon, and tradingcommonsense.com is always available on your local internet!
