TomTom Admits Satnav Device Infected With Virus

miserableles writes "TomTom has admitted to a UK security journalist that a number of GO 910 satellite navigation units shipped with two Trojans installed on the hard drive. But still no sign of an official warning on the TomTom website."

Re:The device cannot infect other devices or

[Excelcia]

If the trojan is active, it can make the device vulnerable to control in a way it's not designed to. The device is bluetooth capable, so this introduces at least the possibility of remote attacks. If they are simply present but not active, then yes, this is mostly harmless.

Re:Don't use a consumer OS to do an RTOS job

[KD5UZZ]

Linux [tomtom.com]

Re:The device cannot infect other devices or

[speculatrix]

tomtom devices act as usb mass storage devices so you can copy s/w, map updates and speed camera POIs to them; thus the device won't actively infect, but can be a vector for infected files.

Re:Don't use a consumer OS to do an RTOS job

[interiot]

As someone else noted, it runs Linux [tomtom.com]. So the virus really is just on the hard drive, so it can execute on computers that attach to the unit, but the virus doesn't actually execute on the GPS unit.

Re:Don't use a consumer OS to do an RTOS job

[speculatrix]

it's irrelevant to the case in point, as it can act as usb mass storage and thus be carrying infected files.

actually, it's running linux - tomtom's gpl page [tomtom.com]. Also take not of OpenTom [opentom.org], a team of 3rd party tomtom hackers.

About TomTom

[maggard]

I've been a happy owner of a TomTom 300 for a couple of years. It's a dashboard-mounted Linux-based satnav system. When I went shopping for a device like this several years ago I was impressed by the TomTom's UI & audio quality, both more important to me when using it then lots of rarely used features.

For those who don't understand why anyone would want a satnav system, its been a huge benefit to me. Not only does it guide me point to point, particularly when it's to or from a point I'm not familiar with, it also informs me of services near me. For example the other night I met friends at a cinema I'd never been to before. I was able to quickly navigate to it without having to refer to a printed Google map. After the show we were able to quickly chose nearby restaurant without having to roam around in a convoy. I was then able to simply chose "Home" as the destination from my new location. On the way home I was low on fuel; with the TomTom I was able to skip the first exit promising gas (the TomTom showed it was actually a mile away) and continue to the next exit, with 2 gas stations conveniently by the exits.

TomTom Corp.is out of Belgium, which is reflected in their multilingual features & mapsets. They've been fairly hacker friendly and there are a number of 3rd party addon packages that have shown up over the years. TomTom has a history of hiring those hackers and bringing them in-house.

Their software runs on both Linux & Windows CE. Indeed from what I've seen it is fairly agnostic about either platform and offers the same feature sets on both. They also have a free desktop application for adding & removing maps, updating firmware & software, adding custom voices, etc. This started out on MS Windows and is now also offered on MacOS X.

So far I've been extremely happy with my purchase. The biggest problem has been significant highway construction; my maps are now several years old and don't reflect current routes. However TomTom has recently announced updated maps which I'll be purchasing. My only concern is they issued a press release touting a significant discount for the introduction of these maps, a press release which has since disappeared from their website.

In the years since my model 300 shipped they've now added models with built-in hard drives, Bluetooth for integration with phones, radios, car services like headlights, and via phones downloading traffic updates for dynamic route optimization. This hard drive is apparently what has been affected.

Not the official TomTom website

[iow]

Disclaimer: I work for TomTom. Please note that www.tomtomgo910.co.uk is not the official TomTom website. It seems to be a landing page for easydevices.co.uk since the 'order now' links points to there. The official site can be found here: http://www.tomtom.com/ [tomtom.com]

Re:About TomTom

[garcia]

IMHO, you're better off skipping the satnav systems built specifically for car use and should instead invest in a handheld GPS unit from one of the other companies.

A color Garmin with autorouting will run you about $300 and is about $100 less than an similar TomTom unit. You won't get voice prompting (which I would turn off anyway -- using a laptop running Streets and Trips or any of the other route software with voice actuation is annoying for any city driving) and the screen won't be quite as large but I have always thought the interface was much better.

With a hand held GPS option you can easily remove it from you car without having to carry a bulky unit around. My GPS (a Garmin 76CS) will run for about 24 continuous hours on lithium batteries in normal temperature conditions (here in MN the cold can severely limit your battery life) or 2 or so days of normal driving. Obviously a car adapter is available but I don't like all the extra wires danging around.

Garmin has map updates frequently but they are pricey (still less than TomTom) at around $100. I have been using the same maps that were available back several years ago (2002) and they work pretty well for my use. Generally autorouting will get you where you want to go but it rarely takes the route that I (under "local knowledge" conditions) would consider optimal. No GPS is going to know what streets are less patrolled, have less traffic lights, and which generally have less traffic.

Just my .02, YMMV.