Hackers steer a new route - to your car

Definitely some Shadowrun ideas in that link. My favourite that I hadn't thought of for a SR hacker is the rolling down the bullet proof windows on your target's vehicle, among other things.

In most vehicles with BP Windows (if not all of them) the Bulletproof Windows do not actually roll down. Kind of defeats the purpose
At least none of the ones I have either been in or seen.

DAMNIT, and we just had a run a week ago where we had to extract an asset during an employment transfer. My solution was to shoot a decent hole on the limo's window and throw in a gas grenade with an incapacitant.

I should have had the techno on the team try this.

We did this on the run before last in one of my games. Hacker rooted van, dropped the image screened windows, killed power, then the shaman force 10 stun balled the confined cabin of the van.

Yeah, the 'scientist' quoted is kind of an idiot. Bullet proof glass is necessarily fixed to the door frame to provide the necessary reinforcement, and I've yet to hear of a car anywhere with computer-controlled brakes (the computer may control the hydraulics which make the braking smooth and easy, but brakes are almost always a mechanical control. You can't have your brakes turning off if your battery or alternator dies.)

An interesting alternative, and I'm not a gearhead to know if this is possible, but could you shift the hydraulics for power steering/braking/etc. so it basically 'locks' the physical controls? The hydraulics put too much counter-pressure for the driver to be able to overcome them?

A growing number of cars require the RFID of the key to be read to disable anti-theft steering wheel lock. Power steering hacks are going to depend largely on the type of system it is (my car's steering is all electric so you could theoretically steer/crash it by wire). Same deal w/ throttle and brake controls (throttle by wire is pretty pervasive and at least ABS is almost a given on anything new w/ some type of ESP/ESC/EDL making it onto just about anything over ~$15K). Most modern braking systems are in fact computer controlled by auxiliary safety systems, down to the individual wheel.

Granted not necessarily all (or any) of this gear is going to be centrally controlled or accessible via wireless on the cars on the road today, but as things move more and more towards automation I think it's only a matter of time.

I would hope for physically disconnected networks between the car's operation and the entertainment system.

But I know better. Too many years as a computer tech tells me that they'll combine everything for whatever marketing/cost cutting reason comes to some exec's mind.