Scared of SCADA? You will be now...

In news that will probably leave you tutting and muttering “I knew this would happen,” two hackers have found a way to unlock cars that use remote control and telemetry systems like BMW Assist, GM OnStar, Ford Sync, and Hyundai Blue Link. These systems communicate with the automaker’s remote servers via standard standard mobile networks like GSM and CDMA — and with a clever bit of reverse engineering, the hackers were able to pose as these servers and communicate directly with a car’s on-board computer via “war texting” — a riff on “war driving,” the act of finding open wireless networks. (more)

The real scary part...

It’s not just cars that use telephony as a control network: there are 3G security cameras, traffic control systems, home automation systems, and — most worryingly — SCADA systems. SCADA is an acronym that covers almost any industrial control system, from manufacturing to power generation, to water treatment and the management of oil and gas pipelines. To quote Don Bailey, one of the hackers: “What I got in two hours with the car alarm is pretty horrifying when you consider other devices like this, such as SCADA systems and traffic-control cameras. How quick and easy it is to re-engineer them is pretty scary.”