Get It?!?!? You will…keep reading.
Used car salespeople have such a bad reputation that they are a cliché, and the Texas Auto Center in Austin has now done its part to keep that reputation solidly in place.
A Simple Plan
Last week, a story broke about a Texas Auto Center employee who had used the web to play pranks on customers. The car dealership had installed GPS-enabled devices in their cars that would allow the dealer, using a web application, to remotely disable the vehicle and honk the horn. The dealership says these devices were installed so that they could more easily repossess cars from delinquent customers – disable the car so it doesn’t go anywhere, then honk the horn so the repo man can find it easier.
Ingenious. What could possibly go wrong?
The Pride of Austin
Enter 20-year-old Omar Ramos-Lopez, an employee of the dealership at the time. He used his home computer and another employee’s ID and password to access the web app and then set about disabling cars and setting off horns causing angry customers to call the dealership.
Super Cyber Criminal Genius
This went on for about a week until the dealership finally reset all user passwords on the system effectively locking Ramos-Lopez out. The police were then called in and Austin’s High Tech Crime Unit was able to trace the changes back to Mr. Ramos-Lopez’s computer. He was then fired from his job, arrested and charged with felony breach of computer security.
Tupac and Spidey
Most stories about this event have concentrated on Mr. Ramos-Lopez’s actions. Clearly the dealership was cleverly outwitted by some kind of criminal genius. Oh, did I mention he also changed the name of one of the customers in the system to that of dead rapper Tupac Shakur?
Super Rapper (I guess they have used cars in heaven???)
Let’s see – 20 years old and working at a used car dealership. I’m not seeing genius at work here. In fact, the world is full of idiots who think disabling a person’s car and stranding them somewhere is hilarious. Far more troubling to me are the actions of the dealership. As Spider Man says, “With great power comes great responsibility,” and this story raises serious questions about the dealership’s role in all this.
Super Hero and Deep Thinker
What the…???
- Were customers aware that these devices had been installed and that they were capable of disabling the vehicle?
- Were the devices installed in all cars sold or only those financed by the dealership? What if the customer got financing somewhere else, or paid for the car in full?
- Were the devices removed once the car was paid off?
- Who had authority to activate the devices?
- Why was it so easy for Mr. Ramos-Lopez to gain access?
- What audit procedures, if any, were in place to monitor the use of the system?
- Why did it take so long for the dealership to figure out something was going on and respond?
- Finally, I was going to ask, “What were they thinking?” but clearly they WEREN’T thinking.
Like any other technology, computers and the Internet are not inherently good or bad – they just are. It’s how they are used that makes the difference. And when they are put in the hands of the incompetent and unscrupulous, it should be no surprise that they will eventually be abused.
Happy Ending?
While computers and the Internet made it possible for super genius Omar to cause all this trouble, they also helped catch him (big ups to the Austin High Tech Crime Unit), so maybe there’s hope we’ll learn our lesson…but probably not.
It should be noted that I attempted to contact the Texas Auto Center dealership for their comments but as of the time of this post I have gotten no response. I guess they’re a little busy these days, and probably more than a little tired of answering questions.
There’s no way a system like that would be allowed here in Australia; for reasons of privacy and safety of the driver when disabling the vehicle. If it DID occur, there would be so much public outrage voiced through the media it would be quickly banned. At the end of the day if you want to set up a car dealership, then it’s YOUR problem how you deal with loan defectors.
Hey, a real comment!
You might be right about Omar’s employment status – it’s hard to tell. The original AP article was really vague about whether he was still an employee or had already been fired. This article – http://tinyurl.com/yhwu6mv – explicitly says this wasn’t in retaliation for being fired but was the reason for his dismissal. On the other hand, the Wired story – http://tinyurl.com/yeoephc – says explicitly that Omar had been let go about a month ago as part of a reduction of force.
Either way, I don’t think it changes the responsibility of the dealership to have managed this better. I mean, the Wired article also says that Omar had his account closed when he was fired. That’s good, but what was he doing with an account on that system in the first place? It sounds like lots of people at the dealership have access to that system, and that seems unnecessary and careless. I’ll bet he didn’t have an account on the payroll system.
One small correction. According to the reports I’ve read, Omar had already been fired by the dealership when he engaged in his mayhem. I believe he was bent on revenge, not pranks.
Apparently, these kinds of devices are used by car dealerships that specialize in selling (and financing) cars to people who don’t have the cash to buy a car without financing, and whose credit histories mean they can’t get financing from more reputable institutions.
In other words, the alternative to having a remotely-activated kill switch installed in your gently-used 1983 Family Truckster with 308,000 miles on it is an unpleasant visit from Yuri and Dmitri to remind you of your financial obligations.