Chinese hackers take over moving electric Tesla car - and can control the brakes

Ever since the first ‘connected’ electric cars took to the road, there have been fears that hackers could take over the vehicles.

A Shanghai security firm, Keen Security Lab, has released a video showing that those fears are - to some extent - justified.

The researchers were able to ‘remote control’ a Tesla Model S via the internet - from up to 12 miles away..

The hack allowed them to take control of the brakes - and unlock the doors, the researchers said.

Director Samuel Lv said, ‘We are able to fold the side mirrors when drivers are changing lanes. All attacks are contactless without physically modifying the car.’

Tesla said in a statement, ‘Within just 10 days of receiving this report, Tesla has already deployed an over-the-air software update that addresses the potential security issues.

‘The issue demonstrated is only triggered when the web browser is used, and also required the car to be physically near to and connected to a malicious wifi hotspot.

‘We commend the research team behind today’s demonstration and plan to reward them under our bug bounty program, which was set up to encourage this type of research.