The same remote-controlled security systems that protect cars from burglars may open them up to cyber attacks. In 2010, researchers in automotive electronic security demonstrated that a physical device could be installed in a car to give remote access to a malicious third party. Since then, the ability to take over a car's controls from afar has only grown. A study published in 2011 by the same researchers demonstrated that there are multiple wireless ways to access a car remotely. Systems like OnStar, which can disable and drive a car if it's reported stolen, can be accessed through cellular networks. What can attackers do once they've gained access to your car? They could take over brakes, lights, and engines. That's a problem.The trick, like most of these cyber attacks, is that it's an elaborate way for an assailant to do something that's much simpler with a handgun. The amount of information you have to gather beforehand--to find the car of the person you want to kill and the times that person will be in his or her car--make for a good Hollywood montage, but that's about it. What if some sadistic person just wanted to start hacking cars and driving them into things? That's a pretty irrational use of the skill it would take to do this, but if someone were so inclined, he or she would certainly ruin the lives of those involved in the crashes. For everyone else, it'd just make for another moderately bad commute.