Expert hackers trick Teslas into switching lanes, Musk says it’s not a problem

Experts have shown that they can lure the Tesla S into oncoming traffic by tricking the car.

Security experts have fooled the Tesla S into oncoming traffic using stickers.

Tesla makes the most advanced cars on the planet. Its autopilot system includes AI software that can contend with poor light, oncoming bridges and other cars at motorway speeds.

Nobody thought, however, about the potentially fatal effect of a series of strategically-placed stickers.

Security experts have shown that they can lure the Tesla S into oncoming traffic by tricking the car’s lane recognition system with a few unobtrusive markings.

The stickers would not even be noticed by humans but they were enough to convince the car’s computer imaging software that the road had curved to the left, causing the car to turn on to the wrong lane.

No problem, says Tesla

Elon Musk, 47, Tesla’s chief executive, praised the discovery as “solid work”, but it highlighted the difficulties facing companies trying to develop fully driverless cars. Tesla said that its autopilot function, in which the car follows a lane without driver input, was not compromised by the work because it was never intended to replace a human.

“This is not a real-world concern given that a driver can easily override Autopilot at any time by using the steering wheel or brakes and should be prepared to do so at all times,” the company said.

Security exerts found stickers that would not even be noticed by humans were enough to convince the Tesla S computer imaging software that the road had curved to the left, causing the car to change lanes. Picture: Supplied

However, many videos on YouTube show that drivers already ignore this advice. In one clip a Tesla owner is seen sleeping as he is driven on a motorway.

The team that discovered the security breach is part of Keen Security Lab, a research group run by Tencent, the Chinese conglomerate that has a stake in Tesla.

The experts also demonstrated that they could trick the car into switching on its wipers even when it was not raining and that they could control its steering wirelessly using a gaming pad.

The “fake lane attack” was considered the most worrying because of its simplicity. “This kind of attack is simple to deploy and the materials are easy to obtain,” the researchers wrote.

Ironically their method exploited some of the car’s safety features. Teslas are designed to follow lane markings but the study showed that the lines can be so broken by debris or dirt that the AI follows routes that are barely there — or are made of stickers.

“This proves that we can interfere or to some extent control the vehicle without connecting to the vehicle physically or remotely,” the researchers said. They advised Tesla to amend its software so that as well as following its own lane it recognised the opposite one and why it would be unwise to use it.

The Times

Elon Musk, praised the discovery as “solid work”. Tesla said its autopilot function was not compromised because it was never intended to replace a human. Picture: Robyn Beck/via AP