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BMW's Connected Drive feature vulnerable to hackers

BMW is working to fix a cyber-security flaw that has left 2.2 million vehicles worldwide vulnerable to hackers. Cars equipped with the automaker's Connected Drive remote-services system are affected, according to the German Automobile Association (ADAC), which first discovered the problem. Researchers found they could lock and unlock car doors by mimicking mobile communications and sending phony signals to a SIM card installed in affected vehicles. An attack could be launched "within minutes" of accessing the system without the perpetrators leaving a trace, according to their report, in part because once they had gained access to the network, the communications were not secure. In response to the security gap, BMW says it has been upgrading software via over-the-air updates over the past week, so no visits to dealerships are needed to remedy the security hole. In fact, owners of affected cars may not have even noticed the updates taking place. The problem affects BMW, Rolls-Royce and MINI vehicles equipped with Connected Drive since 2010. Flaws were first reported to BMW last year by ADAC, which is the country's equivalent of AAA. ADAC says it withheld a public announcement until the car company could address the problem. While BMW has pushed the software patch to most affected vehicles, the organization said it's possible some at cars in the United States had not yet been updated. BMW did not respond to a request for comment Monday. In a written statement, the automaker said it knows of no real-world breaches. 2015 Off To Dubious Start The hack could raise the eyebrows of industry leaders: Cars are now the equivalent of mobile computers and cyber-security experts have been warning that the auto industry has been slow to close its security holes. BMW's breach marks the second time in 2015 that researchers have found a popular automotive feature with little or no security precautions. Last month, experts said a popular device made by Progressive Insurance that allows motorists to track their driving habits contained no security whatsoever. Like the Connected Drive smart-phone app, many automotive components and infotainment features were conceived and produced at a time when industry executives never considered the possibility someone might want to hack into them. But increased connectivity brings increased risk. Going forward, BMW says its Connected Drive features will now operate by using encrypted communications via the HTTPS protocol.

2025 Mini Countryman goes electric, gets bigger at Munich Motor Show

This is the 2025 Mini Countryman, and just like the new Cooper, Mini is revealing it in electric form first.  However, unlike the Cooper, the Countryman is growing in size by a lot. It’s now 5.1 inches longer, 2.4 inches taller and 0.8 inch wider than before. Its longer wheelbase and wider track width really accentuate the growth in size. For reference, the new Countryman is very similar in size to the new Niro. MiniÂ’s new Countryman wears its size well, as it does so with a combination of ruggedness and high fashion all-in-one. Its colored accents, large wheels, distinctively shaped headlights and simplistic body lines come together to create a classy but still forward-thinking look. Since Mini is introducing electric versions of the Countryman for this generation, it focused on reducing the coefficient of drag versus the old model, and itÂ’s gone from 0.31 to 0.26 in the new car. Two electric versions are being revealed now, including the Countryman E and Countryman SE ALL4. The basic E has a single electric motor good for 204 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque, which gets you from 0-62 mph in 8.6 seconds. The sportier Countryman SE has two electric motors for all-wheel drive, which boosts output to 313 horsepower and 364 pound-feet of torque. This gets you a rather quick 0-62 mph time on just 5.6 seconds and a top speed of 112 mph. Range for the single-motor E is 287 miles on the WLTP cycle, while the SE takes a hit down to 269 miles – both are packing 64.7 kWh battery packs. Expect those range figures to be lower in EPA testing. Charging the electric Countryman offerings will be even more convenient than the electric Coopers, as the maximum charge rate is a solid 130 kW. Mini claims thatÂ’s good for a 10-80% charge in under 30 minutes. And if youÂ’re at home, the Countryman features rapid 22 kW AC charging if you have the right hardware to support it. There will be gasoline variants of the Countryman at the end of the year, too, with the base model and an upgrade model adopting the S ALL4 moniker. Mini says they will use updated and more powerful engines. Europe will get a diesel version, and there will also be a John Cooper Works performance variant at some point down the road. When it comes to fun driving, Mini again promises the Countryman will be an engaging to-drive crossover.

Jamaican bobsled team pushes a Mini around town to keep Olympic dream alive

PETERBOROUGH, England — The Jamaican bobsleigh team is used to training without snow, but the coronavirus lockdown has seen its male athletes resort to pushing a car around the streets of an English city to stay in shape, with an eye on Olympic qualification. Some residents of Peterborough have offered their help to Shanwayne Stephens and Nimroy Turgott as they push a Mini down the road, before realizing it is part of a new training regime to work around the closure of gyms in England. "We had to come up with our own ways of replicating the sort of pushing we need to do. So that's why we thought: why not go out and push the car?" Stephens, 29, told Reuters. "We do get some funny looks. We've had people run over, thinking the car's broken down, trying to help us bump-start the car. When we tell them we're the Jamaica bobsleigh team, the direction is totally different, and they're very excited." The couple said they had been inspired by the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics men's bobsleigh team, immortalized in the 1993 film "Cool Runnings." But they said they aimed to qualify for the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 and then outperform the 1988 team, who did not officially finish the four-man bob competition after crashing. "Those guys set a legacy, and a movie came out of it. For me personally, I want to surpass that level, and even go beyond that," Turgott, 27, said. Turgott, who normally lives in Jamaica, has been staying with Stephens since January, and the pair had always planned to do summer training in Britain, albeit in gyms rather than on roads. "If you're able to do the same sort of training without the same equipment, then you should be able to achieve more with the right equipment," he said. The pair are focused on qualifying for Beijing 2022. While the woman's team competed for the first time in 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the men's team failed to qualify. "The last Olympics, we missed it by one slot. And now we are using that experience as our motivation moving forward," Turgott said.   Weird Car News MINI