SecurityFan score 2 · Tier D
All net-connected vehicles from two major automakers allowed hackers to remotely unlock doors and start the engine
Tom's Hardware · By Bruno Ferreira ·
The Brief
- Two security researchers reportedly hacked vehicle connectivity systems of two major automakers during early 2026
- Reported flaws allowed remote unlocking of doors and engine start on all net-connected vehicles from both automakers
- Source states the issues have now been patched
Why it matters
The report describes hard-coded credentials and bypassed MFA in connected-vehicle back ends, showing how basic authentication failures can expose entire vehicle fleets to remote control.
Who’s affected
- Owners of net-connected vehicles from the two affected automakers
- Engineers building or securing connected-vehicle cloud services
Before proceeding further, we'd like to advise our dear reader to sit down and perhaps grab a helmet, for this post will elicit quite a few face-palms and forehead-slaps. Two security researchers joined forces and, during early 2026, managed to hack the vehicle connectivity…
Timeline
Tom's Hardware publishes report on the vehicle hacks
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All net-connected vehicles from two major automakers allowed hackers to remotely unlock doors and start the engine