There's no security in place against the diagnostic port? I mean other than lock and key.
Moj.io: Connect your car to the world around you
61–70 of 86 posts
Re: Moj.io: Connect your car to the world around you
#62Considering the possibilities, I'm very much surprised that Google hasn't entered this space to supplement their traffic intelligence. Just look at the possibilities of the Torque Android app and this Mojio dongle to see how powerful it is. If Google came out with a bluetooth OBD-II dongle, they could integrate it into Google Maps/Nav and Google Now, both on Android and iOS. And you don't need an expensive cellular c…
I'm confused, how does getting the speed directly from the car improve directions and heads-up display of speed over getting the speed from the GPS unit?
The big advantage over built-in car navigation systems vs hand-held GPS units is that they measure speed and distance far more accurately via the wheel sensors. If you live in a city with a lot of tunnels or GPS dead spots, this can make a real difference.
I would imagine the same information applies. If you can blend the GPS and the wheel sensors, you would get the most accurate reading, because wheel sensors can become inaccurate through fitment of different size wheels and/or tyres.
Re: Moj.io: Connect your car to the world around you
#63Will we be able to modify the software running on the device? I sure as hell don't want information about my car's problems or GPS whereabouts, not to mention a detailed record of when I'm speeding, to be uploaded to "the cloud". And of course -- the increasingly likely case that "the cloud" gets owned, the hardware devices get some kind of pushed software update, which then proceeds to use manufacturer specific comm…
Re: Moj.io: Connect your car to the world around you
#64There's no security in place against the diagnostic port? I mean other than lock and key.
Hah, sadly no. And some enterprising thieves in the UK worked out that in certain model BMWs, you can cut a hole in the side glass and fit a sensor sender unit into the sender, while the alarm is activated. This is because the area beside the drivers mirror is an ultrasonic deadspot. Once the thieves have access to the diagnostic port, then can use the information to program a blank key to a valid key, and then steal the car.
The affected models were 1 series, I believe, and it started getting to the point where the chances of a high-spec 1 series getting stolen were very high. Google '1 series theft problem' for more info. There is a home-security cam of some theives stealing a 1 series in a couple of minutes using this technique.
Re: Moj.io: Connect your car to the world around you
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm confused, how does getting the speed directly from the car improve directions and heads-up display of speed over getting the speed from the GPS unit?
The big advantage over built-in car navigation systems vs hand-held GPS units is that they measure speed and distance far more accurately via the wheel sensors. If you live in a city with a lot of tunnels or GPS dead spots, this can make a real difference. I would imagine the same information applies. If you can blend the GPS and the wheel sensors, you would get the most accurate reading, because wheel sensors can be…
And going over sweet jumps
Re: Moj.io: Connect your car to the world around you
#66Wow! A HUGE market that escaped everybody’s attention! There are a few comments that come to mind: First, this Modj.io company provides free testing ground for car companies to see if there is really a wide demand for such feedback mechanisms in public. At the first sight, I would say that there is, as they outlined in their sample use cases in the video. Second, the only chance that Modj.io has for survival is a qui…
I don't think it escaped everybody's attention.. there are several companies/people working on this.
Citation needed.
Re: Moj.io: Connect your car to the world around you
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because of licensing and other issues, we aren't certain yet if we can make the firmware of the mojio open source. You can totally write your own apps against our cloud api. This is to abstract away vehicle idiosyncrasies from app developers. That said, we do want more savvy OBD experts to contribute to mojio. As for your data, you can wipe your data from the mojio servers at any time. Only you can see the data and c…
> we aren't certain yet if we can make the firmware of the mojio open source Please do let me know when you find out. This is a very important factor for me and many others. > You can totally write your own apps against our cloud api. I think you might have overlooked the primary point of the post. Many folks don't want and don't trust the cloud. My coordinates, travel history, and vehicle information are my business…
I agree with zx2c4 whole-heartedly!
The main issue you are going to have is security. I can't see any evidence on your website or video that you have thought about this aspect.
The combination of a closed-source solution, cloud-connectivity and connecting to the car through OBD-II seems the wrong approach to me.
Closed-source has been the pitfall of many companies in the past because fewer people get to examine the proposed solution and thus much more prone to security implementation errors.
Cloud-connectivity is the heart of what zx2c4 was talking about.
As for the OBD-II port, what you tout as an advantage in your video is actually a disadvantage. First because since 1995, the internet connectivity landscape has changed dramatically, and security strategies have had to adapt. In fact, often struggling to keep up. This means that the OBDII port was never designed with internet connectivity in mind. This is not a commercial advantage but a security concern! Examples like CarShark (http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2010-05/researchers-hack-...) or the recent string of thefts made easier through the use of the OBD2 (http://jalopnik.com/5923802/watch-hackers-steal-a-bmw-in-thr...) port are proof that the port is not a good candidate for wider connectivity.
In environments where security matters tremendously like nuclear power plants, a core strategy seems to be limiting capabilities in hardware. The OBDII port does not follow that spec as far as I am aware. The communication scheme allows you to do bidirectional communication. This means that if a 0-day vulnerability was found in your system (closed-source only makes this more difficult to patch), attackers could use your infrastructure to write data to the car such as programming in new keys (like the BWM attack). So it seems to me that you would need a hardware-enforced read only port which doesn't exist. Incidentally that is fundamentally the reason behind some car manufacturers ensuring that their entertainment systems (with BT connectivity etc) are fully separate from the car main computer (whose traditional access port is the OBDII).
As we have discussed, even just collecting said data and storing it in the cloud is undesirable outcome for the driver (your customer in theory...).
This is only my 2 cents, I hope it helps you understand why I think this implementation is not a desirable solution and ultimately why I won't be backing this project despite. Don't get me wrong, just like many folks here, I would love to have a JTAG to poke around and make some cool toy applications but I will never use this as you intended it and plug it into a car.
Re: Moj.io: Connect your car to the world around you
#68Will we be able to modify the software running on the device? I sure as hell don't want information about my car's problems or GPS whereabouts, not to mention a detailed record of when I'm speeding, to be uploaded to "the cloud". And of course -- the increasingly likely case that "the cloud" gets owned, the hardware devices get some kind of pushed software update, which then proceeds to use manufacturer specific comm…
These people are more selling the apps and the "cloud" stuff than the hardware. If you want the hardware, go to eBay and look for an "ELM 327" - they have bluetooth, USB, and serial ones. I paid under $15 for mine, which is bluetooth. I use it to connect to the "Torque" app on my Android phone. No fancy "cloud," though, and it needs the phone to do anything.
Re: Moj.io: Connect your car to the world around you
#69I had a roommate with one of these ODB connector dongles. He paired it with his phone, and was able to get tons of information about the car. He could even shut off various warnings/status lights, which was handy (my car at the time had a faulty sensor).
He may have been using the Torque app, for Android. I have it and it is excellent.
Re: Moj.io: Connect your car to the world around you
#70 moj.io works in all major urban centers with coverage for
95% of the Canadian and US population