First off, you learned how to send messages to a gear indicator (after it's been ripped out of the car)
That's not the same as being able to spoof messages from the gear indicator to other components in a real vehicle, and then getting them to affect the transmission.
Realistically even if you could somehow send the transmission an instruction to shift in a way that would cause an issue (like telling the transmission to go in Park at highway speeds), there are multiple layers that would stop you in your tracks. At the lowest level the ZF8 most of these GWS shifters came with would never follow that instruction to start with.
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I hate fear mongering around vehicle security because it leads to things like Mazda locking down their infotainment Linux box because news reports saying "Mazdas can be easily hacked", when the component in question had no tie in at all to anything safety critical.
The reality is physical access to the car is game over. I feel like your comment is intentionally worded to retort "oh well you just need quick access to the inside, vs getting under to cut the brake lines", but if you stick some random custom OBD II device with remote C&C you're making a much larger target for attention.
People are stealing entire catalytic converters off cars with noisy angle grinders, getting more intimate access to a vehicle is really not that hard.
First off, you learned how to send messages to a gear indicator (after it's been ripped out of the car)
That's not the same as being able to spoof messages from the gear indicator to other components in a real vehicle, and then getting them to affect the transmission.
Realistically even if you could somehow send the transmission an instruction to shift in a way that would cause an issue (like telling the transmission to go in Park at highway speeds), there are multiple layers that would stop you in your tracks. At the lowest level the ZF8 most of these GWS shifters came with would never follow that instruction to start with.
-
I hate fear mongering around vehicle security because it leads to things like Mazda locking down their infotainment Linux box because news reports saying "Mazdas can be easily hacked", when the component in question had no tie in at all to anything safety critical.
The reality is physical access to the car is game over. I feel like your comment is intentionally worded to retort "oh well you just need quick access to the inside, vs getting under to cut the brake lines", but if you stick some random custom OBD II device with remote C&C you're making a much larger target for attention.
People are stealing entire catalytic converters off cars with noisy angle grinders, getting more intimate access to a vehicle is really not that hard.