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It's common knowledge nowadays that any computer can be hacked, and any wireless connection can be compromised. In other words, any “smart” device is vulnerable, including smartphones, smart TVs, and smart cars (which are basically computers on wheels).

Indeed, in February a Senate committee report determined that almost every new car sold on the American market was vulnerable to hackers in some way or other.

Hackable car exploits

In just the past two weeks, dangerously hackable exploits have been uncovered in cars from three different manufacturers. On July 24, Fiat/Chrysler USA recalled 1.4 million vehicles from model year 2013 and later, to fix a massive software flaw allowing hackers to remotely seize control of a vehicle's major operating systems, including steering, brakes, and transmission.

A week later, another security researcher discovered a way to remotely seize control of the OnStar systems used in various General Motors vehicles.

Five days ago, Tesla Motors issued a software patch to fix a security hole that allowed hackers to take control of a Tesla Model S and abruptly turn it off.

And today, security researchers from the University of California at San Diego found yet another hackable-car threat with the potential to affect almost all makes and models of modern cars – although the specific brand hacked in this security test was a 2013 Corvette.

Common gadget

Wired reports that a team of researchers from UC San Diego discovered that a commonplace gadget which trucking companies and insurance firms use to remotely monitor vehicles' location, speed, and other factors also leaves those vehicles vulnerable to hackers: “By sending carefully crafted SMS messages to one of those cheap dongles connected to the dashboard of a Corvette, the researchers were able to transmit commands to the car’s CAN bus—the internal network that controls its physical driving components—turning on the Corvette’s windshield wipers and even enabling or disabling its brakes.”

A dongle is essentially a small piece of hardware that attaches to a computerized or electronic device in order to allow additional functions – such as remote speed and location monitoring, when a dongle is attached to the computer in a car. The specific device in this instance is an OBD (on-board diagnostics) dongle made by French firm Mobile Devices and distributed by American corporate customers such as Metromile, a San Francisco-based insurer which uses the dongles to charge per-mile rates for insurance.

Not that the use of such devices is limited to insurance customers looking for discounted rates. In March, the White House issued an executive order mandating the use of similar OBD monitoring systems by federal agencies with fleets of 20 or more vehicles.

Moving too fast?

Metromile says it has already issued a wireless patch for that particular security hole. However, as The Verge dryly noted, the Metromile Dongle hack is “the newest in a recent rash of security vulnerabilities in cars that is raising questions about whether automakers and suppliers … should be moving as quickly as they are to connect their products to the Internet.”

One could raise similar questions regarding whether the U.S. government, which over the past year has developed the annoying habit of having its sensitive computer systems and databases breached by Chinese or Russian hackers every few weeks, should be in such a rush to add its automobile fleet to that ever-growing list of hackable things.

Source: Consumer Affairs

Train hits semi

A steel beam crashed through the train windshield, just missing the engineer, during a Wednesday afternoon collision with an 18-wheeler, Rome police said.

An Averitt Express transfer truck driven by William Kopeck, 72, of Marietta, was stopped at the red light at Riverbend Drive and Second Avenue. Kopeck’s truck straddled the railroad track, Rome Police Office Hank Jackson said.

Witnesses said the rail crossing alarms went off, and Kopeck began blowing his horn to try to get traffic moving, but there was nowhere for him to go.

A Norfolk Southern train coming from North Rome toward Atlanta collided with the transfer truck and pushed it across Second Avenue, breaking the trailer open and scattering boxes and paper around the area.

A steel beam smashed through the train’s windshield, though no one involved was hurt, Pfc. Mike Simmons said.

“It could have been bad,” he added.

Rome police cited Kopeck with failure to stop at a railroad crossing, Simmons said.

Arely Gomez, driving a 2007 silver Honda Odyssey, was stopped at the railroad crossing on the southbound side of Second Avenue. She tried to reverse when she saw the train approach the truck, backing into a black Kia Sorento driven by Regina Launar.

“I was on the phone with my mother,” Launar said. “The car in front of me tried to back up to get out of the way and bumped me and I looked at the driver stopped beside me and thought ‘Oh, gosh, is this going to happen?’ and then the truck just exploded everywhere.”

The wreck closed Second Avenue for about two hours. Norfolk Southern workers were at the scene about 5 p.m. repairing the crossing guard arm, Simmons said.

Source: Rome News Tribune

A national trade group's lawsuit against the state Thruway Authority is on the road again.

The American Trucking Associations' 2013 legal action had been dismissed on a technicality, but a federal appellate court has restored the suit. The plaintiffs contend the Thruway shouldn't be subsidizing the state canal system with toll money.

"We want to stop the Thruway from using a significant portion of its toll revenues from motorists who use the system and spending it on things other than the Thruway,'' said Rich Pianka, deputy general counsel for the trade group.

The organization said $100 million per year as of 2012 went toward the canal system, which has evolved over the years from a transportation route to a recreational venue.

The canal system generates about $2 million annually in user fees.

The latest court decision, released this week, recapped part of the associations' argument. While the 524-mile canal system, which stretches from Albany to Buffalo, was a major shipping route in the19th century, its commercial use has "faded into obsolescence," according to the decision from the federal 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan.

Now the canal is lined with bikeways, hiking paths and parks. The lawsuit argues that while these improvements benefit the local communities along the canal, truckers — including many from out of state — shouldn't have to subsidize them.

"We don't care about the canals," Pianka said.

Specifically, the suit alleges that using tolls to support the canal system violates the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. That's because the toll, considered a user fee, isn't going strictly for the purposes of roadway maintenance.

The association is seeking a refund on the percentage of truck tolls that has gone to the canal system dating back to 2010.

Thruway Authority has spent $1.1 billion on the canal system since the state Legislature placed it under the authority's control in 1992, the lawsuit said.

"Maintaining the Canal System comes at a steep price," reads part of the complaint. "The New York State Thruway Authority ... drastically overcharges commercial truckers for the use of the roads that it administers."

Thruway officials declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

The state Legislature originally approved putting canal operations under Thruway control, but some lawmakers have from time to time urged ending the relationship.

Talk of a change frequently come ups when there is discussion of a possible Thruway toll hike.

The Thruway Authority floated the idea of a truck toll hike in 2012, but that drew harsh outcry from upstate lawmakers and business operators, including truckers, who said it would amount to a tax on the entire region.

Higher tolls, they said, would simply be passed along to consumers.

The protest prompted Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who appoints the Thruway Authority's board members, to drop the plan for increased tolls.

To save money, the Thruway Authority cut staff and eliminated what had been a $60 million contract with the State Police to patrol the highway. Police are still on the Thruway, but the funding comes from the public safety budget rather than the Thruway Authority budget.

Tolls remain an issue, especially when it comes to talk about paying for the replacement for the Tappan Zee Bridge, which spans the Hudson River between Rockland and Westchester counties.

Transportation experts have said some kind of toll hike will be needed to pay for the new bridge, a $4 billion addition to the Thruway system. Despite catcalls from lawmakers and other critics, the Thruway Authority and the Cuomo administration have insisted it's impossible to determine what the eventual bridge toll will be until the bridge's costs are more fully known.

Crossing the bridge is already costlier for trucks than it is for cars: While passenger cars pay $5, large trucks can pay up to $49.25 to make the crossing. (The toll is charged one way — for those heading east and south into Westchester County or New York City.)

Source: Times Union

VERONA, Ky. —Interstate 71 was closed for several hours Thursday near the Gallatin/Boone county line after a truck crash Thursday.

Authorities said a UPS tractor-trailer was going northbound near the 69 mile marker when it ran into the median of the highway.

The truck took out a length of median cable barrier before coming to rest. One of its two trailers overturned.

Photos from scene

For a time, the truck was leaking methane gas, forcing the closure of all lanes in both directions.

After the leak stopped, all but the left-hand northbound lane reopened. Traffic was still slow in the area at 11 a.m.

All lanes reopened around 2:30 p.m.

There were no injuries, authorities said.

Source: WLWT 5

Purchase will let Cudahy-based Roadrunner operate its own trucks in Mexico

52 kilograms of suspected drugs hidden in rig's storage area, border agency says

The Canada Border Services Agency said its officers found 52 kilograms of suspected cocaine hidden inside the storage areas of a truck being driven by a Toronto man on July 27. (Canada Border Services Agency)

A Toronto trucker faces drug charges after border officers found 52 kilograms of suspected cocaine hidden in his rig this week.

The Canada Border Services Agency said a truck was flagged for a secondary inspection at the Ambassador Bridge crossing on Monday. The bridge connects Windsor, Ont. and Detroit, Mich.

The CBSA said its officers found the suspected cocaine hidden inside three duffel bags and a tote container, all of which were allegedly hidden in the truck's storage areas.

The drugs were seized, the RCMP were called in and charges were laid.

The 26-year-old man faces charges of cocaine importation and possession of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking.

The accused is due to appear in a Windsor court on Tuesday. The charges have not been proven in court.

The CBSA says it has seized some 302 kilograms of cocaine in its southern region over the past year and a half.

Source: CBC NEWS