Cops can extract data from 10k different car models’ infotainment systems

This is interesting and not something I was aware of. Since when does DOT require that?

This is a FAR BIGGER threat even in national security terms because an unpatched vulnerability might allow acting on ALL cars in a nation, for instance blocking them in some crucial intersections paralyzing the entire traffic, or push them to consume too much all at once (EVs/plug-in hybrid) from the grid to make mass blackouts and so on.

They're a decade late knee jerk reaction to the huge rear blind spots the Ford Expeditions and Chevy Suburbans that white collar types thought were the cool hot thing to own in 2004ish and characteristically refused to take responsibility for occasionally backing over their kids with them.

The fat pillars came a tad later with side curtain airbags.

Backup cams are mount lower and have a wider field of view than people do. They are really effective at keeping drivers from running over children. They are incredibly effective at this. Even in my low to the ground compact car, my backup cam sees things I cannot out my back window.

Oh man! I recently rented a car after a very long time; really loved CarPlay experience.

Most cars will have the infotainment in a CAN or flexray network with a bunch of other stuff in the cockpit.

Theoretically unless other systems are tightly integrating with the infotainment (using their GPS localization data for example) you could theoretical just snif the network through your OBD connector and find out what messages your infotainment sends (i.e. whatever messages dissapear when you power the infotainment off).

Most of the time the Body Control Module (the master of ceremonies in the cockpit) is just checking that a particular range of message IDs are being sent to 'assume' that the infotainment is 'online'. So sending those messages on the OBD port as a man-in-the-middle of sorts would theoretically keep all the other systems happy.

So I suppose it really depends on how far you are willing to go. Also I think it would be difficult to make the trim look any good after removing the central infotainment system.

I lost a 2018 Bolt EV this year after my insurance company decided it wasn't worth repairing. My car might not be the perfect candidate for this, but I know there will be parts worth scavenging off of it in the next life for the carcass.

I sure hope to be able to perform one of these conversions myself in the future once the broader "swap infrastructure" and knowledge bases expand to better support individuals like myself (similar to how you can find a wealth of knowledge and aftermarket support for Honda K-series engine swaps into many cars beyond even Honda models).

0: https://www.carscoops.com/2022/11/this-shop-in-gibraltar-mod...

You think of a Honda Civic as a "model". But Honda has the Civic Sedan, the Civic Sedan Si, the Civic Hatchback, and the Civic Type R. All-in-all, Honda has 13 different "models" listed on their US page. We can assume most other major manufacturers follow suit.

Then some of them may be broken down even further into more ultimately meaningless categories. Yes, the Civic Type R STX Bayonetta Dragon Hyper Ultimate Vroom Vroom edition may be a different "model", but all I see is Civic with too many fucking qualifiers.

And all of them will be using the same base infotainment package. Which isn't ultimately a big deal. You'd want some sort of consistency between your vehicles. Except when there's an issue like this. Then not one model, but every model has an issue.

Possibly software version than hardware. Still high to me. How many different Android phone systems are there?

I'm intrigued. Example?

Even if they can’t run full forensics might be able to just browse through the call log or recent trips.

Call data and other data from devices tethered to it, and for connected infotainment systems also wifi and cellular data which can provide a secondary source of location data in case the location history has been purged.

It wouldn’t surprise me if there are some more rich logs there including CANBUS data from other car systems on some of the newer models.

Overall if you have a late model car especially towards the upper end of the spectrum I would assume the infotainment system has about as much information as a cellphone you carry because they are basically phones stuck to the console at this point.