Tractor hacked: jailbreak for John Deere tractors presented

If devices are to be hacked, smartphones, gadgets or, more recently, even cars are usually listed. In this way, buyers and owners of the devices can receive additional authorizations and sometimes unlock hidden features. But tractors, combine harvesters and other agricultural machines are also computerized these days. The hacker Slick Codes now has his at the DefCon Security Conference Jailbreak for tractors presented by the company John Deere.

How does the hack work?

During the hack, Slick had to solder codes to the mainboards of the tractor computers and thus install new controllers. This enabled him to bypass the authentication required by official John Deere offices and gain full access to the computers. Authorized dealers (and now also the hacker) can thus access data logs (up to 1.5 GB), which on the one hand enable quick and easy diagnosis, but on the other hand represent another gateway for timing-based hacks.

Tractor manufacturers like John Deere use the computerization of their agricultural vehicles to protect them from manipulation. This also includes the unauthorized repair of the machines by the owners. As a result, many farmers do not really have their own access to the machine’s computer systems, which can lead to serious problems if, for example, a faulty software update paralyzes the machine for an entire day. An authorized technician must first service the equipment, and by this time a significant portion of the harvest may have been spoiled long ago. Precisely for this reason, John Deere in the USA already had to defend against class action lawsuits.

Source: Wired