Got a Jeep Cherokee or Wrangler? Read this!

[Quartz]

Thieves are using laptops to hack and steal Jeeps.

Police and car insurers say thieves are using laptop computers to hack into late-model cars’ electronic ignitions to steal the vehicles, raising alarms about the auto industry’s greater use of computer controls.

The discovery follows a recent incident in Houston in which a pair of car thieves were caught on camera using a laptop to start a 2010 Jeep Wrangler and steal it from the owner’s driveway. Police say the same method may have been used in the theft of four other late-model Wranglers and Cherokees in the city.

[Bullitt]

Yes. Jeep has upgraded their software to close (or greatly reduce) the breach. Owners can get their systems upgraded with a SW patch.

[Johnny_L.A]

Of course they stopped building the Cherokee in 2001.

[Bullitt]

It came back!

[leftfield6]

@Johnny_L.A

Of course they stopped building the Cherokee in 2001.

LMFTFY.

They stopped building the REAL Cherokee (the XJ) in 2001.

[Bullitt]

Missed the edit window.

The Jeep Cherokee XJ was built from 1984-2001. Then in 2014 they came out with the Jeep Cherokee KL. XJ and KL were never used in the name, they are the model types.

Images, Jeep Cherokee XJ: https://www.google.com/search?q=Jeep+Cherokee+XJ&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=isnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5pbX5sd_NAhWGQCYKHXTQB88Q_AUIBygB&biw=1024&bih=672
Images, new Jeep Cherokee KL: https://www.google.com/search?q=Jeep+Cherokee+XJ&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=isnv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi5pbX5sd_NAhWGQCYKHXTQB88Q_AUIBygB&biw=1024&bih=672#hl=en-us&tbm=isch&q=Jeep+Cherokee+KL

[Pai325]

My daughter already got a patch for this last year. Are hackers doing it again in a new way?

[Gatopescado]

Anybody who steals a Jeep deserves what he gets.

[Bullitt]

@Pai325

My daughter already got a patch for this last year. Are hackers doing it again in a new way?

I’m a Jeep owner, and don’t believe this is new - I believe your daughter should be good with the patch we got last year. Which is weird because the OP links to a recent WSJ article. I have not heard of any new security vulnerabilities.

I’m going to the dealership tomorrow morning for skid plates, I’ll try to remember to ask, but I think we are okay.

[Pai325]

@Bullitt

I’m a Jeep owner, and don’t believe this is new - I believe your daughter should be good with the patch we got last year. Which is weird because the OP links to a recent WSJ article. I have not heard of any new security vulnerabilities.

I’m going to the dealership tomorrow morning for skid plates, I’ll try to remember to ask, but I think we are okay.

Thank you!

[Bullitt]

I checked and they said no new hacking vulnerabilities, not since a year ago. So we should be good.