Before proceeding further, we'd like to advise our dear reader to sit down and perhaps grab a helmet, for this post will elicit quite a few face-palms and forehead-slaps. Two security researchers joined forces and, during early 2026, managed to hack the vehicle connectivity backend infrastructure of two automakers, managing to remotely open the doors on any of their net-connected cars and start their engines across multiple world regions.

The vulnerabilities were quickly fixed, and they pertained to a handful of belief-begging security issues with multiple server APIs that their respective mobile applications use. Furthermore, although remotely opening the cars and starting them were the most concerning bits, the vulnerabilities also exposed the vehicles' location, mileage, fuel, range, door states, and the customers' personal information.