David Colombo, 19, from Germany, claimed to be a hacker who successfully controlled more than 20 Tesla cars in at least 10 different countries through software vulnerabilities and posted the news on Twitter, according to foreign media reports on January 13. David said that the reason why he was able to "remotely control" these cars was not the loophole caused by Tesla but the owners.
David, who describes himself as a "security expert" and a hacker, claims to be able to run a variety of commands to "remotely control" Tesla cars, including opening windows and doors, keyless driving, and more. He tweeted: "I can remotely control more than 20 Tesla cars in 10 countries, but I can't find the owners to tell them the truth." ”
David continued, "It's not a Tesla software vulnerability, it's a problem for car owners. That's why I posted publicly to tell you this fact. Now, I can run commands remotely on 25 Tesla cars in 13 countries without the owner knowing it. In addition to opening doors and windows, driving on autopilot, you can also query the exact location of the car, see if the driver is present, and so on. Oh, and you can also play videos on these cars to tease the owners remotely. ”
David added: "Of course, it's quite dangerous behavior if someone can originally turn the music to maximum volume, or open doors and windows when the driver is driving on the highway." Even if the lights are flashed non-stop, it can pose a danger to other drivers. So, in order to avoid danger as soon as possible, I published the details online. ”
David also clarified that he also didn't have full control as he had previously said, as he couldn't "interfere with other people driving (other than driving the music to maximum or flashing lights)." "I also can't drive these Teslas remotely," David said. Subsequently, David shared an update in the post, saying that Tesla's security team has confirmed that "they are investigating" and will reply to him as soon as more information is available.