The 1.4 million Kleist recall may be just the tip of the iceberg

As safety regulators deepen their investigations, the risk of Fiat Kleist's cracking in infotainment may be just the tip of the iceberg, as other automakers could face the same risks. After Fiat Chrysler recalled 1.4 million Dodge, Jeep, chrysler for a vulnerability in the UConnect system that has been confirmed, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has now ordered infotainment system provider Harman Kardon to submit more data.

The vulnerability could be exploited by hackers to hack into automotive dashboard systems, which are expected to be affected by an estimated 2.8 million vehicles and could be used by harman Caton's other automaker customers.

In its July 29 announcement, NHTSA said its purpose was to "determine the nature and extent of the infotainment products offered to other automakers, and if there are enough similarities, the investigation will look into possible safety issues with HARMAN Caton's other products.

As a well-known supplier of automotive components, HARMAN Caton's customers include BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Volvo and other manufacturers. Fiat Chrysler announced last month that it had fixed the uconnect system, saying it "deployed network-level security measures to prevent proof-of-concept remote control."

FCA further states: "These measures do not require the intervention of customers or dealers, as the fully tested update was deployed via a mobile network on July 23, 2015, and some remote access to those for vehicle systems has been completely blocked".

At the same time, the company also offers options for U-drive upgrades for affected motor vehicles, including jeep grand cherokee, dodge challenger, and Chrysler 300 models.

As for other automakers, they have not yet expressed their position on the vulnerability.