Tesla has really knocked the EV revolution out of the park by developing advanced technology to aid driver safety and creating an excellent fast charging network. Many people depend on Tesla being secure and stable in order to make day-to-day living as convenient as possible. With modern vehicles, I’m certain that many of our fears would be to get hacked in the middle of a trip on the freeway.

Our fears are plausible as Tesla had a software security flaw exposed by a German Teen hacker. David Colombo discovered a flaw and shared his findings on Twitter. David is something of a protégé as he has been coding since the age of 10 years.

The problem is not solely Tesla’s fault as it involves the usage of third party services and API keys. Astoundingly, he was able to remotely gain access to 25 vehicles globally in 13 countries. The functions he had access to were: toggling Sentry Mode, unlocking the doors, opening the windows and he could start the car without the owner’s knowledge. Perhaps the most chilling parameter he had access to was the vehicle location.

This hack opens up a new can of worms for the modern vehicle. While David started a thread and was able to reach Tesla, we’re now faced with having a new perspective when it comes to vehicle safety. Not only will drivers be nervous about being hacked in the middle of a drive and risk being stranded, but now motorists will be vulnerable to potential theft as the vehicle’s location, Sentry Mode and starting functions are within the possibility of being manipulated.

Tesla will be especially relieved that a glaring blindspot like this wasn’t exploited with sinister intent. The issue has been resolved for the time being, Tesla were able to patch the expired authentication tokens.