At the Defcon hacker conference today, security researcher Truman Kain
debuted what he calls the Surveillance Detection Scout. The DIY computer
fits into the middle console of a Tesla Model S or Model 3, plugs into
its dashboard USB port, and turns the car's built-in cameras—the same
dash and rearview cameras providing a 360-degree view used for Tesla's
Autopilot and Sentry features—into a system that spots, tracks, and
stores license plates and faces over time.
The tool uses open source
image recognition software to automatically put an alert on the Tesla's
display and the user's phone
if it repeatedly sees the same license
plate. When the car is parked, it can
track nearby faces to see which
ones repeatedly appear.
Kain says the intent is to offer a warning that
someone might be preparing to steal the car, tamper with it, or break
into the driver's nearby home.
more
The tool uses open source
image recognition software to automatically put an alert on the Tesla's
display and the user's phone if it repeatedly sees the same license
plate. When the car is parked, it can track nearby faces to see which
ones repeatedly appear.
