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As the two hackers remotely toyed with the air-conditioning, radio, and windshield wipers, I mentally congratulated myself on my courage under pressure. That’s when they cut the transmission.
Immediately my accelerator stopped working. As I frantically pressed the pedal and watched the RPMs climb, the Jeep lost half its speed, then slowed to a crawl. This occurred just as I reached a long overpass, with no shoulder to offer an escape. The experiment had ceased to be fun.
At that point, the interstate began to slope upward, so the Jeep lost more momentum and barely crept forward. Cars lined up behind my bumper before passing me, honking. I could see an 18-wheeler approaching in my rearview mirror. I hoped its driver saw me, too, and could tell I was paralyzed on the highway.
[Ed. addition follows]
See also coverage at The Register Jeep drivers: Install this security patch right now – or prepare to DIE:
The full details of the hack are still private, but it relies on the uConnect cellular network; since 2009, Chrysler cars have included hardware to connect to this network to reach the internet. The two researchers have demonstrated that a canny hacker can use the uConnect system to get wireless access to major components of a car's controls, and potentially crash it remotely with no one being any the wiser. The flaw has existed in the system since 2013.
Miller says the hack will work on recent Fiat Chrysler motors – such as Ram, Durango, and Jeep models. The pair disclosed the flaws to the manufacturer so that a patch could be prepared and distributed before their Black Hat tell-all. The fix is supposed to stop miscreants from accessing critical systems via the cellular network, a protection mechanism you would have expected in place on day one, week one.
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday July 22 2015, @05:10PM
Yea, they had some weird transmissions out there. I have seen a large Mack LR, an off highway truck converted to a heavy haul tractor, with a torque converter and no clutch. A rocker switch on the floor allowed you to break torque to shift the 10 speed two stick transmission (5 main gears and two compound gears).
Another oddity was the Caterpillar semi automatic used in military trucks. There was a shift lever, like one you would find in a modern automatic car, but it had 16-18 slots. You nudged the stick for each gear and you had no clutch pedal: http://hankstruckforum.com/htforum/index.php?topic=18283.0 [hankstruckforum.com]. You see a pedal where the clutch should be but I believe that is a retarder pedal that uses the converter in the transmission as a retarder to slow the vehicle without using the service brakes.
MAN also used a semi-auto in their KAT1 military truck. From what read a while ago, it has a stick, no clutch pedal and you shift like a manual but never worry about a clutch. From pictures you can make out a stick in the cab but no clutch pedal. The post I read stated that it had a 7 speed in it.