Does FCA US LLC sound familiar to you? If it does not, perhaps just calling the company “Fiat” might ring a bell. That is certainly much better, isn’t it? Having said that, we have heard about how hackers have managed to commandeer a Jeep remotely, and it seems that Fiat (which owns Chrysler) is conducting a voluntary safety recall of approximately 1.4 million vehicles to update the software within. These vehicles are those sold in the US and come equipped with certain radios.
This particular recall is aligned with an ongoing software distribution that intends to insulate connected vehicles from remote manipulation, in other words: to prevent anyone from hacking your ride remotely. If that happens, then the hacker could very well be charged under the criminal code of law.
FCA US has also applied network-level security measures so that such remote manipulation will be a thing of the past, and these measures will not require any action from either customer or dealer, which is a good thing since folks do forget sometimes to apply a patch or update their devices, what more their cars. So far, the affected vehicles do come with 8.4” touchscreens and are from the following list :-
- 2013-2015 MY Dodge Viper specialty vehicles
- 2013-2015 Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickups
- 2013-2015 Ram 3500, 4500, 5500 Chassis Cabs
- 2014-2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Cherokee SUVs
- 2014-2015 Dodge Durango SUVs
- 2015 MY Chrysler 200, Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger sedans
- 2015 Dodge Challenger sports coupes
Those affected by this recall will be on the receiving end of a USB device that can be used to upgrade the vehicle software. [Press Release]