[Bazinga]

Like Tesla, the Bolt EV may feature over-the-air software updates like Tesla. One less reason to go to the dealership!

This came from GM exec Pam Fletcher at the Citi 2016 Global Technology Conference.

Here's a quote from Fletcher that cleantechnica found:

“…we take (cyber security) very seriously and we really wanted to get where we have got all necessary safeguards in place to do so that we would do over the air programming safely and securely and so that will come out on the Bolt EV.”

 

[Electro]

Gotta love how convenient that makes things ! But wouldn't that add more potential risks instead of added security ?

 

[colaboy29]

Not necessarily. As long as safeguards are in place (data is encrypted, etc) it should be safe.

 

[astricklin]

I am guessing what she meant is that they have not implemented it yet because they are wanting to make sure that it is adequately secure before there are thousands or tens of thousands of cars that can potentially be hacked into over a wifi connection.

 

[Electro]

Hm.. okay that would make a lot of sense then, I think I may just be overthinking all of this and "tripping" myself out

 

[eops]

At the end of the day it takes the company, which in this case is GM, to be proactive about patching the system when ever vulnerabilities pop up. Much like what Microsoft does with the updates all you Microsoft users get. That's all we can really do and depend on. But like said above, due to encryption, it will take some sophisticated hacking to get in, DARPA levels of hacking

 

[= Rich =]

I'm having trouble connecting to my home Wi-Fi . Any ideas?


Apple Airport extreme latest generation .

 

[devbolt]

Is it unable to see the network, or unable to connect because it doesn't like the network password? If it doesn't like the password, try checking whether the Bolt is using WPA or WPA2? For me it was defaulting to WPA and my network needs WPA2.

 

[Raymondjram]

GM doesn't use common grade microprocessors (no Intel or Apple products), so "hacking" may be at the command or language level, not at the microcode level. GM also implement the "limp home" feature, such that if you are on the road and a component fails, the car allows you to reach a destination before it shuts down and become disabled. So in a way, GM cars will never suffer the common PC failures (such as the BSOD of Microsoft O/S), and it makes home servicing and modification difficult but at the same time safe from "hackers" damaging your GM car.

And if you wish to guess what software GM uses, they use IBM products (IBM supported GM in developing the Chvy Volt's 10 million code O/S). I am sure IBM supported GM for the Chevy Bolt EV, too.

Read more here:
http://gm-volt.com/2010/11/02/gm-using-ibm-software-to-develop-and-control-the-chevy-volt/
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1259444
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Application-Development/IBM-GM-Collaborate-on-Technology-for-Chevrolet-Volt-Electric-Car-151125
https://www-01.ibm.com/software/rational/announce/volt/

 

[quy duong]

I think my wifi was hacked, 3 inaccessible

 

[madpsintst]

Has anybody had any luck accessing software updates over WiFi? Mine won't connect via WiFi. Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Here is what I am doing:

Settings > Software Information > Software Update

I then get an error that says "Connection Error. Check your device's network settings of your remaining [NetworkName] data. Or, you can try connecting to a different Wi-Fi network".

I still have 3 GB of data on my OnStar data plan, so that's not the problem. I tried connecting to my home Wi-Fi network instead (which works great on my iPhone), but my Bolt does not even show the network name on the list.

Any ideas?

 

[ProfessorBolta]

Yes, have it connect to your cars internal WIFI (assuming you have data plan on it) - that should always work (it works well for me). Otherwise I have the 14.XX firmware, it does check for updates if I tell it. However, I've read on the forums that even when they pushed the 14.XX update (from the initial 13.YY), it wasn't available OTA, you still had to go to the dealer. This is because GM is understandably extremely cautious.

On hacking the system GM (or anybody) doesn't have to worry about OTA. That uses symmetric encryption and signing to ensure the bits are coming from GM. No different than any other web service, nothing special or hard, and impossible to hack presently (the web hacks you hear about are against the servers which have some fragile configurations).

The best way to hack the Bolt is to, hack the Bolt. Having physical access is gold and basically impossible to prevent. It's all a matter of how hard they make it. If they did a bad job we can get in through the USB ports (I'm going to try it when I get a moment). The USB bus is notoriously easy to get into. Next is through the other communication channels. I'd check RF first - the WIFI network. The car has some interfaces on that that might be fragile. And so on ...