Tech expert: Vehicle tracking devices pose hacking risk

FORT MYERS, Fla. Parents like Teresa Araque depend on devices like Verizon’s “The Hum” to track her 17-year-old daughter’s vehicle and her driving habits.

But cyber security expert Greg Scasny has a different take on such devices.

“These devices plug into the on board diagnostic of your car and then on the other side they connect that to the Internet,” he said.

Information such as car diagnostic and navigation data, recordings, and even radio stations, can be within reach of hackers, Scasny said.

While there’s a slim chance that hackers can run a vehicle off the road, it could happen, he said.

“You got to think about your information, your personal information almost like currency,” he said. “So is the personal information and privacy that I’m giving up worth the exchange that I’m getting back for whatever device I’m using.”

Araque weighed the security risks, but decided to purchase the device.

“This is pretty innocuous in my opinion,” she said. “You register just like anything else. And it does have protection and everything on it.”