[XxWile_E_CoyotexX]

I came across this article and had to wonder if QNX has anything to do with GM's OnStar system.

This Gadget Hacks GM Cars to Locate, Unlock, and Start Them (UPDATED) | WIRED

Posted via  Z30 (OS 10.3.2.2339)

[Bla1ze]

Depends on the model and really, it all depends on the layer OnStar puts on top. As with the so-called Jeep hack, it never hit the core OS being QNX, the flaw comes from the top layer being UConnect. UConnect and the mobile network access were hijacked. OnStar could be along the same lines or based entirely on something else.

[Ment]

Be glad QNX works out of the public eye. The programs that run on QNX are as leaky as Flash is on Windows. There will be many many more stories like this as carmakers make their automobiles accessible to the outside world.

[Troy Tiscareno]

Be glad QNX works out of the public eye. The programs that run on QNX are as leaky as Flash is on Windows. There will be many many more stories like this as carmakers make their automobiles accessible to the outside world.

Exactly.

QNX is a great OS for things like cars, but the presence of QNX alone does not magically make the car secure as some here imagine. Flash on Windows is a great example - all of Flash's many vulnerabilities are not Microsoft's fault, but rather Adobe's, but it is Windows that usually, unfairly, gets the blame. Yet it's easy for most of us to understand that Flash is an application layer that runs on top of the Windows OS, and not part of the base OS. Microsoft didn't create Flash.

Similarly, car manufacturers use QNX as the base OS layer, but they build their own apps and UI on top of that (much like Android manufacturers skin Android) because they want a differentiated product. The problem is: software and security really aren't the forte of car manufacturers, nor is it a high priority for them, and the resulting product shows this. You can't fairly blame QNX for these issues, but you also can't assume that a QNX-based system is going to be "secure" either, because QNX is only the foundation of the "building" that is the computing system in a modern car - the rest of the "building" is designed and built by the car company itself.