GM Confident OnStar Hack Counterattack Successful

OAK BROOK, IL – General Motors says those concerned about reports hackers were able to intercept signals and take control of the OnStar emergency-communications system in GM vehicles can breathe a sigh of relief.

“We’re confident this issue is closed,” Terry Inch, OnStar chief operating officer and executive director-Global Connected Customer Service for GM, says in an interview at a Midwest Automotive Media Assn. presentation on OnStar upgrades for 2016.

“We took the hacking problem incredibly seriously and GM is the only auto manufacturer to go as far as naming an executive director of cybersecurity.”

OnStar developed a software update to its RemoteLink app to patch the security vulnerability that had allowed hackers to control functions such as unlocking the doors and starting the engine.

“We feel the vulnerability was taken care of by downloading the new Remote Link app,” Inch says, but cautions there are no promises the first hacking episode of the system will be the last.

“We’re confident and believe we’ve done everything possible to resolve the issue, but problems like this are never entirely resolved and we can’t say that something like this will never happen again,” he says. “We always will be looking to improve the system and always will be looking for ways to come up with a better mousetrap.

“We’re working inside and outside the company and with universities and government agencies to figure out where and how the system can be hacked in the future” and focus on how to prevent it from happening, Inch says.

Adding Wi-Fi capability to OnStar, which launched in 1996, was a feature consumers asked for and has helped make OnStar-equipped vehicles more appealing, he says.

Inch dismisses speculation GM might move the OnStar call button to summon service from its location under the rearview mirror where it’s been housed since Day 1.

“It’s possible we could put a (redundant) touch control on the (navigation) screen, but there’s been no decision yet and we’re undecided if we are going to do that,” he says. “We are looking and talking about the modes and methods for our customers to use to interact with OnStar and that’s not to say we won’t come up with different ways, but we aren’t going to move the button off the mirror.”

While GM is about to mark 20 years of offering OnStar, similar emergency-communication systems haven't been adopted across the board by the entire industry. “That's because offering this service is expensive and a big investment, and it’s not for the faint of heart,” Inch says.