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List:       isn
Subject:    [ISN] Hobbyists modify GM's OnStar system
From:       InfoSec News <isn () c4i ! org>
Date:       2003-12-29 10:10:26
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http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/business/7569678.htm

By Sandeep Junnarkar
New York Times
Dec. 25, 2003

Ray and Elna Kawal hit the open road in the fall on an 8,000-mile trip 
in their 2002 Chevy Tahoe with General Motors' OnStar navigation 
system serving as their North Star.

 From their home in Sequim, Wash., across to Denver and Chicago, down 
to Mexico and then homeward through Arizona and California, the Kawals 
followed directions to tourist destinations, hotels and their friends' 
homes using OnStar's Global Positioning System navigation -- just the 
kind of business GM covets for its subscription service. But in this 
case, the automaker didn't make a penny from the six-week excursion.

That's because Ray Kawal, a 57-year-old retired engineer, had pried 
the OnStar unit from behind the glove compartment and customized it to 
work with his laptop and commercially available mapping software. His 
wife read him directions right off the laptop that sat between them. 
The modified unit was no longer connected to the OnStar network, over 
which representatives could have provided the same service for a fee.

``My wife was basically doing a lot of what the OnStar service person 
would do,'' Kawal said. ``Many of the things OnStar wants you to pay 
for, you can take the unit out and do it yourself.''

Web instructions

Other road warriors are quickly discovering this as Web sites and 
message boards spring up with step-by-step instructions on removing 
and personalizing OnStar's navigational and communications components.

While there are no estimates on how many people have customized the 
device in their cars, those who are proficient at adapting the system 
are helping friends and family members do so, and some are beginning 
to parlay their skills into a weekend business.

The hobbyists have OnStar peering around an unforeseen curve.

Bruce Radloff, OnStar's chief technology officer, pointed out that 
owners who tamper with the system risk voiding the warranty on the 
OnStar unit -- and more critically, the warranty on the entire car. 
Yet he acknowledges the temptation.

``From my own perspective -- and GM may feel differently -- once 
someone buys the car, I guess their desire to modify it and make 
changes to it is up to them,'' Radloff said. ``But why would you take 
that kind of risk of invalidating your vehicle warranty when you can 
go out and buy a GPS receiver for a couple of hundred bucks these 
days?''

`Freedom to tinker'

The question goes to the heart of a principle long embraced by 
technologists. Edward W. Felten, a professor of computer science at 
Princeton University and a leading voice for this philosophy, defines 
it on his Web log as the ``freedom to tinker'' ethic. This calls for 
the ``freedom to understand, discuss, repair and modify the 
technological devices you own.''

Tinkerers seek little justification to deconstruct any technology. A 
common reason given for fiddling with a device is simply that it's 
there. These technologists believe that a bit of tweaking will 
inevitably unearth some innovative uses.

It was this curiosity that led Pete Carter, a 28-year-old computer 
engineer at an online brokerage in Omaha, to plug a GPS unit he had 
bought for his father into his own laptop just to see how it would 
react. To his surprise, the laptop picked up the device without 
requiring any additional software.

He figured that the components used by OnStar's GPS unit were probably 
the same and resolved to put his theory to the test. After the 
challenge of prying the unit loose from behind the dashboard, Carter 
faced a more daunting task. He had to switch the unit's programming 
language to one accepted by commercial mapping software and then 
solder a connection compatible with his laptop. Once he succeeding at 
harnessing the GPS capabilities of his OnStar system, he created a Tap 
Into OnStar Web site (mem bers.cox.net/onstar) to help others modify 
their units.

Fee for service

When a driver requests directions from an OnStar representative, his 
GPS data is routed over an analog cellular network to OnStar 
computers. The agent then reads back the directions over the same 
cellular network. The price for this service, which also includes 
emergency services and hotel and restaurant recommendations and 
reservations, is about $420 annually, or $400 if paid upfront.

For some, the success such hobbyists have had in tapping into their 
personal OnStar units evokes the hacker who seeks to break into a 
networked system simply out of curiosity.

Security researchers have even raised the specter that as more cars 
come equipped with OnStar navigation systems, hackers will be tempted 
to try to exploit the technology to locate OnStar users.



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