Now Electric Skateboards Have Been Hacked Using “FacePlant” Exploit
Short Bytes: Security researchers in Australia have exposed a serious flaw in the low energy Bluetooth controlled devices, as they hacked an electric skateboard. This vulnerability could be exploited in other electronics based devices such as electric bikes.
We told you how a Manhattan startup Red Balloon Security team at the Black Hat Conference, demonstrated a technology to hack into a printer and steal the information as radio waves. This time security researchers Richo Healy and Mike Ryan from Australia have exploited the vulnerabilities in the electric skateboards calling it FacePlant.
They verified several electric skateboards and concluded that every single remote handled skateboard could be hacked. In the report from Wired, the security researchers were able to maneuver a $1500 Boosted electric skateboard and even exposed vulnerabilities in Revo and E-Go e-skateboards.
The electric skateboards are controlled through Bluetooth Low Energy wireless technology. The Bluetooth communication is usually not encrypted, so an attacker can easily insert himself in between the relay. As soon as it is done, the electric skateboard comes under the attacker’s control.
Also Read: The Hacker Search Engine Shodan Is The World’s Scariest Search Engine
Now, with such cool things in the world to hack, no one expected someone to hack into a skateboard. The electric skateboard hack demonstration may not sound as fascinating as the recent Fiat Chrysler hack which created a furor over its security systems and more importantly that the hackers have jumped to the next level.
But the fact that with this vulnerability exposed, even electric bikes and other machines that work with Low Energy Wireless technology are not safe either. The electric skateboard, if hacked, will merely toss a person on the road, but if an electric bike is hacked which is going at a good speed, the outcome can be fatal.
As the technology gets more sophisticated, instead of bringing relief to the people, it is becoming an eye-sore, especially the IoT and the electronic devices that work via wireless networks.
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