5 ms·

Car break down on their own too. If you're gambling with your life driving in such a place without taking precautions, you're already in greater danger anyway.

Car break down on their own too. If you're gambling with your life driving in such a place without taking precautions, you're already in greater danger anyway. Where I'm from, engine reliability isn't part of vehicle safety inspections.

quuquuquu 9y ago
If this sales rep disabled my car with his smartphone while i was in Badwater CA, I would literally die. This functionality should not exist.
- pavel_lishin 9y ago
  I realize this is going to sound like victim-blaming, but why are you driving through Badwater without enough supplies to survive a blown tire or an engine breakdown?
  - s0rce 9y ago
    He probably has the supplies to fix a blown tire, engine breakdown - probably not. If you have some water you can probably wait in the shade from your car until nightfall and then head out to find help and hope you don't die. If your car is in decent working order then its probably a small risk of breakdown. I wouldn't want to have my car remotely disabled while driving through the desert during the summer. Hopefully most of the remote places still lack cell service and this, I assume, would prevent being remotely disabled.
    - quuquuquu 9y ago
      Awesome reply, I will reply to both of you in one comment :) Sure, I usually carry water and basic stuff with me in the car, whether it is around the corner from home or a 600 mile roadtrip. But of course, the problem here is the arbitrariness of the power the sales rep wields. Whether you actually paid them or not, they can push a button, the button can accidentally be pressed, it can be hacked etc etc. So, this technology opens up a whole new threat vector/attack surface that I really can't control. I can keep my car in good mechanical order and drive defensively, but there's not much I can do about electronic attacks. I think badwater does have cell service since it is so flat and touristy ;)
      - aneutron 9y ago
        What's even worse, is that there is no RFC or even a standard that defines said protocol. That means it's not publically auditable, and generally speaking people who have that luxury tend to screw up their designs, starting to cut corners. And the carry water with you wannabe-counter-argument is nonsensical in this context. As judging by that logic one should always have a baseband station handy to spoof the provider's IP and turn on the car. (Side note, cell coverage actually depends on reflection on buildings)
    - fmj 9y ago
      >Hopefully most of the remote places still lack cell service and this, I assume, would prevent being remotely disabled. Actually these devices are more like remote enablers. Its programmed to disable the vehicle after your bill is due. Each time you make a payment they update the shutdown date to whenever your next payment is due. If the car is somewhere it can't receive the update then its not going to work after the due date until it returns to an area with cell coverage.
      - dTal 9y ago
        >If the car is somewhere it can't receive the update then its not going to work after the due date until it returns to an area with cell coverage. The car can't move till it moves? I spy a catch-22...

quuquuquu 9y ago

If this sales rep disabled my car with his smartphone while i was in Badwater CA, I would literally die. This functionality should not exist.

pavel_lishin 9y ago
I realize this is going to sound like victim-blaming, but why are you driving through Badwater without enough supplies to survive a blown tire or an engine breakdown?
- s0rce 9y ago
  He probably has the supplies to fix a blown tire, engine breakdown - probably not. If you have some water you can probably wait in the shade from your car until nightfall and then head out to find help and hope you don't die. If your car is in decent working order then its probably a small risk of breakdown. I wouldn't want to have my car remotely disabled while driving through the desert during the summer. Hopefully most of the remote places still lack cell service and this, I assume, would prevent being remotely disabled.
  - quuquuquu 9y ago
    Awesome reply, I will reply to both of you in one comment :) Sure, I usually carry water and basic stuff with me in the car, whether it is around the corner from home or a 600 mile roadtrip. But of course, the problem here is the arbitrariness of the power the sales rep wields. Whether you actually paid them or not, they can push a button, the button can accidentally be pressed, it can be hacked etc etc. So, this technology opens up a whole new threat vector/attack surface that I really can't control. I can keep my car in good mechanical order and drive defensively, but there's not much I can do about electronic attacks. I think badwater does have cell service since it is so flat and touristy ;)
    - aneutron 9y ago
      What's even worse, is that there is no RFC or even a standard that defines said protocol. That means it's not publically auditable, and generally speaking people who have that luxury tend to screw up their designs, starting to cut corners. And the carry water with you wannabe-counter-argument is nonsensical in this context. As judging by that logic one should always have a baseband station handy to spoof the provider's IP and turn on the car. (Side note, cell coverage actually depends on reflection on buildings)
  - fmj 9y ago
    >Hopefully most of the remote places still lack cell service and this, I assume, would prevent being remotely disabled. Actually these devices are more like remote enablers. Its programmed to disable the vehicle after your bill is due. Each time you make a payment they update the shutdown date to whenever your next payment is due. If the car is somewhere it can't receive the update then its not going to work after the due date until it returns to an area with cell coverage.
    - dTal 9y ago
      >If the car is somewhere it can't receive the update then its not going to work after the due date until it returns to an area with cell coverage. The car can't move till it moves? I spy a catch-22...