• Kiernian@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    24
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    10 months ago

    I was actually impressed when I took a bus across state lines in the U.S. recently.

    Someone was complaining about the charger on their seat not working.

    Turns out that the driver has full control of the power to the USB ports on the bus and can turn them off and on at will… and they apparently they turn them off BY DEFAULT.

    If someone WERE to figure out a way to get from the USB port in the seats to the CAN Bus on the vehicle itself, having a hard-wired physical switch that cuts power/signal to the ports is potentially a fairly effective security measure as long as there’s not a memory buffer you can compromise and run stuff from.

    • Bonehead@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      65
      ·
      edit-2
      10 months ago

      The real question is…why are the data lines connected to anything in these chargers, let alone connected to the CAN Bus? There’s no need for security if you just don’t have access. Something tells me either the company doesn’t like their customers, or the bus driver was just a dick.

    • herrvogel@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      18
      ·
      10 months ago

      I very much doubt there’s any sort of workable data connection between the CAN bus and those sockets. The mechanism that lets the driver switch them on or off at will doesn’t necessarily have to connect those things to anything but a power rail.

      • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        10 months ago

        i really wish school just had a day where they covered how a USB port works, showing how you can literally just cut all but the power cables to limit things to charging only