A computer science team discovered that wireless gearshifting in high-end Racing Bikes can be vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks that could sabotage many popular races.
According to the University of California San Diego, wireless gear shifting is supposed to give riders finer control. the modernization also introduces a new set of hacking vulnerabilities. The researchers wrote “Those weak points could be exploited “to gain an unfair advantage, potentially causing crashes or injuries by manipulating gear shifts or jamming the shifting operation.”
The group specifically looked into bikes with Shimano Di2 wireless gear-shifting technology, which it called the “market leader.”According to UC San Diego, the shifter works “by deploying wireless links between the gear shifters controlled by the riders and the device that moves chains between gears on the bike, called a derailleur.” Researchers recorded and retransmitted commands, researchers were able to perform an attack from up to 10 meters away with “off-the-shelf devices.” They found it’s possible to disable gear shifting for only one bike so as not to affect the other ones.
Shimano and researchers have been working together to fix these problems and the company has started some of their countermeasures.
The researchers say that “The history of professional cycling’s struggles with illegal performance-enhancing drugs underscores the appeal of such undetectable attacks, which could similarly compromise the sport’s integrity.” “Given these risks, it is essential to adopt an adversary’s viewpoint and ensure that this technology can withstand motivated attackers in the highly competitive environment of professional cycling.”
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