These days it seems to me that more and more household items are getting linked to the internet – we have Alexa which can do all manner of things in response to verbal requests, TV’s can be made to change channels or settings using just your voice, and now other items like fridges, freezers, boilers and other itms can all be controlled remotely.
All well and good until they become infected by a virus or some dodgy player decides to put the mockers on them!
So what’s your view on driverless cars?
Well you might want to bear in mind that a teenager from Germany, DAVID COLOMBO claims to have taken over a number of commands in more than 25 Tesla cars in 13 countries, apparently without the knowledge of the vehicle owners.
He doesn’t have full control so can’t actually drive any of these vehicles remotely but says he can run commands including opening the doors/windows, starting Keyless Driving and disabling the Sentry Mode.
He says he can also find the exact location of the vehicle and see if a driver is present.
To add to the fun it seems that he has found a way of blasting out Rick Astley via YouTube in their Teslas.
David explained that none of his is due to any shortcomings in Tesla‘s infrastructure but is all down to the lack of care by the vehicle owners themselves.
For this reason he would like to be able to alert those affected to the issue before releasing any specific details about how he managed to obtain control, and that his next steps included ‘coordinating disclosure to affected owners with Tesla’.
Tesla’s security team has apparently confirmed that ‘they’re investigating’ and would respond with more information as soon as they had it.
That seems to me to be an increasing problem as more and more devices we use at home can be controlled remotely.
I can tell you I certainly won’t be considering a remotely controlled car!
In the second hour of today’s programme I was joined by Margaret Mills for her regular book review which this time around was THE HAUNTING SEASON, and I suppose you could say that the lead authoress is BRIDGET COLLINS but this was not a single story but a collection of tales written by no less than 8 best selling, award winning authors.
The stories were set in such diverse places as Covent Garden Christmas market to the frosty moors of Yorkshire, from a country estate with a dreadful secret, to a London mansion where a beautiful girl lies frozen in death and even features haunted chess pieces and a holiday destination in the Fens where all is not as it seems.
Listen again here for Margaret’s take on this collection: –
If you think this might be a book you’d enjoy, once again the book details are as follows, “The Haunting Season” by Bridget Collins + 7 other Authors. (published by Sphere, 2021) £7.37 paperback, £12.60 hardback, £7.00 kindle.
Right all being well I’ll see you again tomorrow at this same time,
Scott
