Chinese electric busses have a kill switch

[Brookswood]

Security expert in Norway have discovered that electric busses purchased from China have an undocumented radio in them that could allow the busses to be remotely disabled.

According to Yutong, those SIM cards enable remote software updates and technical troubleshooting. While that may be true, the connection also gives Yutong the theoretical power to stop the buses or render them inoperable via a software update.

Chinese-made buses in Norway can be halted remotely, spurring controls

Transport operator Ruter said test results published last week showed that Chinese bus maker Yutong Group had access to their control systems for software updates and diagnostics.

“In theory, this could be exploited to affect the bus," it said.

It is not unusual for modern vehicles to have remote access devices that can allow the vehicle to be diagnosed and perhaps even repaired remotely. But, one security expert had stated that this ability is not documented in any manual. Nor are the purchaser made aware of it before purchasing the busses. That is what makes this somewhat suspicious.

It is possible the manufacturer had no malevolent intentions. But, any remote connection to a vehicle could be hacked and used to by cyber criminals or hostile states to get information on the vehicle‘s usage, and in theory, disable the vehicle.