A fun car-hacking fantasy

Imagine you are cruising down the highway on a lazy summer day, arm out the window (if you`re from the East Rand) and minding your own business, when suddenly your car develops a mind of its own.

Despite your best attempts to fight it, the possessed vehicle steers itself into the emergency lane and begins to accelerate. Assuming there are no taxis parked in that lane, you`re now whizzing past motorists at 180km - and screaming like a teenage girl at a Westlife concert.

Then, when you think things couldn`t get any worse, the car rams into a nearby police car. Try explaining that to your insurance company.

Obviously this is an extremely unlikely situation, but if a recent security report can be trusted, similar situations might actually be conceivable in the future.

According to anti-virus company Kaspersky Labs, reports have surfaced that viruses have infected the onboard computers of a number of cars. While the details are sketchy at present, it appears a virus that spread from a mobile phone via Bluetooth may have infected the navigation systems of certain Lexus vehicles.

Whether or not the supposed virus actually does anything to the car is unknown, but it is hardly surprising that the mere mention of such an occurrence has created quite a stir.

Realistically, there is no real danger at present, but in these moments of frenzied hype, it`s always fun to consider some of the ramifications of the "what ifs" and "maybes" that will undoubtedly be doing the rounds.

First up, I would like to know why someone would want to do this in the first place, and secondly, how much control would they be able to gain? The first part is simple: the one thing you can rely on with humans is the ability to despise others.

Be it our neighbour, our mechanic, or the local politician, I`m sure everyone would be able to compile a list of people they would wish car-virus-terror on.

The second part of the question is slightly more difficult, as it brings in numerous variables. For example, people with cars similar to mine would probably be impervious to such a virus, as they fall under the 'relic` category. Powered by burning coal, and with a braking system consisting of a big rock tied to a rope, such cars can definitely be considered safe.

It would be a terrifying experience to find yourself at the mercy of some heartless villain who could literally drive your car remotely, all the while bashing the vehicle into countless obstacles.

Damian Clarkson, journalist, ITWeb

Then there are those in the mid-range category, which do feature a fair amount of computer systems that could be vulnerable to attacks in a theoretical situation. At worst, a jilted ex-lover might be able to take control of the air-con, direct a right chilly breeze at your nether regions, and leave you with a right nasty chafing. So no 'real` danger there then.

But those in the newest upper market territory are theoretically the high-risk candidates - some models already feature computer systems that can control the brakes, in order to ensure the driver keeps a safe distance from the car in front.

Should the person be evil enough, he or she might even lock all the doors, wind up all the windows, and play the entire musical works of Dozi through your radio.

But thankfully this is a theoretical situation, and such terror does not exist in the real world - just yet.