Unhacking the Hacked Jeep

We read about “hacks” every day. All industries are potential targets of a hacker and the automotive industry has been no exception.

Well-known hackers Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek recently teamed-up with a WIRED reporter to publish a story that you may have read about or seen on the news. The story highlights how Miller and Valasek hacked into Miller’s 2014 Jeep Cherokee and remotely controlled some functions. Miller and Valasek have been working on intentionally hacking into Miller’s vehicle over the past year as part of their on-going research in the area of automotive cybersecurity and have communicated with FCA about some aspects of their work.

To FCA’s knowledge, there has not been a single real world incident of an unlawful or unauthorized remote hack into any FCA vehicle.

After becoming aware of the vulnerabilities in some 2013 and 2014 vehicles equipped with the 8.4 inch touchscreen systems, FCA and several suppliers worked to fix the vulnerabilities in model year 2015 vehicles. FCA also created a software update that eliminates the vulnerabilities uncovered by Miller and Valasek in their laboratory tests. This software update is available to customers right now and can be downloaded to a USB drive from http://www.driveuconnect.com/software-update/ and installed in a vehicle.

FCA will be contacting potentially affected customers with these details and has provided the software update to the FCA US dealer network for immediate customer installation.

Customers can enter a vehicle identification number (VIN) and find out if their vehicle needs the software update. If your vehicle needs the update, you can download the software update to a USB drive and install it yourself. Another option is to make an appointment with your FCA US dealership and have them install it for you at no charge. The update, if installed DIY, will take 30-45 minutes, and your vehicle needs to be parked throughout the software update/installation process.

In addition, FCA US has been working with its suppliers to implement additional protocols to block remote access. These changes will not require any action by our customers.

The vehicles listed below that have a 8.4 inch touchscreen radio system need this software update:

2013-2014 Ram 1500 Pickup
2013-2014 Ram 3500 Cab Chassis
2013-2014 Ram 2500 Pickup
2013-2014 Ram 4500/5500 Cab Chassis
2013-2014 Ram 3500 Pickup
2014 Grand Cherokee
2014 Durango
2013-2014 Viper
2014 Cherokee
Some 2015 Chrysler 200s

For any questions regarding how to complete the software update please call our Customer Care Center at 1-877-855-8400.