Cybersecurity and manufacturers: what the costly Chrysler Jeep hack reveals

Sadly, most cybersecurity experts were not surprised to hear that there are serious vulnerabilities in the Uconnect infotainment system installed in 1.4 million vehicles manufactured by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (also known as FCA). Those vehicles, which include cars and trucks branded Chrysler, Jeep, and Dodge, are now the subject of the world’s first automotive cybersecurity recall, potentially tarnishing those bands and wiping millions from FCA’s bottom line. This could become a classic study in how failure to adequately address cybersecurity risks during product development and deployment ends up costing a manufacturer millions of dollars.

Right now, across the United States, Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge are busy gearing up to handle this “cybersecurity recall” because next week, at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas, security researchers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek will be presenting more details of the vulnerability, further raising awareness of the problem (although it may be hard for the media to top this headline from Fox News: “Patch your Chrysler vehicle before hackers kill you”).

Cybersecurity and manufacturers: what the costly Chrysler Jeep hack reveals