Summertime and the spamming’s easy

Federal Drive

Summertime and the spamming’s easy

Vehicular tire pressure monitors need cybersecurity too

Federal News Network Staff

August 13, 2010 8:30 am

1 min read

Cybersecurity Update – Tune in weekdays at 30 minutes past the hour for the latest cybersecurity news on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Amy Morris (6-10 a.m.) and the DorobekINSIDER with Chris Dorobek (3-7 p.m.). Information Week reports the amount of spam containing a fishing attack fell by 5 percent from June to July. And the number of unique phishing Web sites created by automatic attack toolkits declined by 60-percent in the same period.

If your car warns you about your tire pressure, there’s another warning you need to know about. The wireless systems that monitor tire pressure in modern cars can be spoofed remotely or even damaged. According to a team of computer scientists from Rutgers University and the University of South Carolina, hackers can trigger “low tire pressure” and “check tire pressure” warnings due to in-car wireless network security and privacy vulnerabilities. InformationWeek says all it takes is a few college level classes, some common radio and computer gear..and a car.

Check out all of Federal News Radio’s coverage of cybersecurity issues here.