German teenager Columbo hacked and controls 25 Tesla electric vehicles around the world

A young man from Germany who turnedonly 19 years old, recently claimed on Twitter that he was able to hack software and take full control of 25 Tesla vehicles from 13 countries. At the same time, a teenager named David Colombo (@david_colombo_) does not seek to harm cars or their owners, but wants to contact Tesla owners to help them fix the vulnerability.

In a series of Twitter posts, Columbo revealed thatThe cause of the vulnerability is not Tesla software, but the careless behavior of electric vehicle owners who used third-party services and API keys.

In an interview with Drive Tesla Canada, youngthe hacker noted that he could turn off Sentry Mode, unlock doors, open windows and start the car using a keyless remote control, all without the knowledge of the owner. He also confirmed that he could locate the vehicles and stated that one Tesla electric vehicle was in Kitchener, Ontario.

A little later, the journalists received confirmationthat the young man contacted Tesla security to inform the affected electric vehicle owners about the problems that had arisen. According to experts, one way to protect Tesla driver accounts is to use multi-factor authentication (MFA).