Photo: Kenazo via inspir0nd on Reddit
Remember folks, there's no rest for the wicked - as you were enjoying your weekend activities, hackers took over Tesla Motors. A three-way attack plan was carried over, affecting the Tesla Motors website, the company's Twitter account, as well as Elon Musk's Twitter.
The hackers used different aliases, such as RIPPRGANG (for Twitter) and Autismsquad (for the web page). The attacks took place late morning on Saturday, April 25, on California's Pacific Daylight Time.
To make sure everybody remembers the incident, the internet pirates went on to announce Tesla would be giving away free cars. As a... bonus, there was also some identity spillage, with people being asked to call certain persons in order to get their on-the-house Model S vehicles.
During the time of the attack, Tesla owners were treated with a dedicated Easter Egg, as the Tesla App wouldn't connect to their vehicles.
Things are now back to normal at Tesla, but the internet has already started boiling with comments. On one hand, we have the explanations that could make sense, such as the hypothesis that the attack was actually aimed at Network Solution, who hosts The Tesla Motor website.
At the other end of the scale, we find people who confuse a website takeover with a server takeover, going as far as worrying about hackers getting the GPS data for all customer cars.
All the fingers pointed at the potential security gaps with Tesla's cars have eventually melted, with Elon Musk making sure their vehicles are well protected against cyber attacks.
Nonetheless, it looks like Tesla will have to up the ante on the digital front.
Piech, who is the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, had recently expressed his disapproval for a future led by current VW CEO Martin Winterkorn. The Chairman's move comes after the CEO was supported by the majority of the forces involved.
While Piech's wife, Ursula, also resigned from the board, the dust looks far from having settled. For one thing, the Piech and Porsche families control the majority of VW Group shares. We might have to brace ourselves for the ending of this story.
PS: the hacked Tesla account Tweets are obviously down, so you have a few screenshots of both these and the hacked Tesla website below.
To make sure everybody remembers the incident, the internet pirates went on to announce Tesla would be giving away free cars. As a... bonus, there was also some identity spillage, with people being asked to call certain persons in order to get their on-the-house Model S vehicles.
During the time of the attack, Tesla owners were treated with a dedicated Easter Egg, as the Tesla App wouldn't connect to their vehicles.
Things are now back to normal at Tesla, but the internet has already started boiling with comments. On one hand, we have the explanations that could make sense, such as the hypothesis that the attack was actually aimed at Network Solution, who hosts The Tesla Motor website.
At the other end of the scale, we find people who confuse a website takeover with a server takeover, going as far as worrying about hackers getting the GPS data for all customer cars.
All the fingers pointed at the potential security gaps with Tesla's cars have eventually melted, with Elon Musk making sure their vehicles are well protected against cyber attacks.
Nonetheless, it looks like Tesla will have to up the ante on the digital front.
A weekend of chaos
Don't imagine the Euro side of the automotive industry has had a calmer weekend. Saturday was also the time of choice for VW's Ferdinand Piech to announce his resignation as Chairman of the Board.Piech, who is the grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, had recently expressed his disapproval for a future led by current VW CEO Martin Winterkorn. The Chairman's move comes after the CEO was supported by the majority of the forces involved.
While Piech's wife, Ursula, also resigned from the board, the dust looks far from having settled. For one thing, the Piech and Porsche families control the majority of VW Group shares. We might have to brace ourselves for the ending of this story.
PS: the hacked Tesla account Tweets are obviously down, so you have a few screenshots of both these and the hacked Tesla website below.
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