Report: Disgruntled hacker disables 100 cars in Texas remotely

[NewsFeeder]

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal

Omar Ramos-Lopez' retaliation on his former employers' customers might be something we conjure up while lying sleepless in bed, but we've got the power of self-restraint. Omar? Not so much. Ignoring his locus of control, Ramos-Lopez retaliated against Texas Auto Center after he was fired from by activating the GPS-enabled immobilizer systems the dealer fits to some of its cars. Some customers missed work, others had horns that kept honking and many had to pay for towing and repair.

In all, more than 100 people were impacted by the actions of Ramos-Lopez, a 20-year-old now facing charges for breach of computer security. Austin police say Ramos-Lopez accessed the computer system in an attempt to block the dealership's access to its own Pay Technologies account. Customer names were changed to things like "Tupac," and it took a couple days to figure out who the culprit was. Ramos-Lopez had been fired a month before the incident, and he's now facing between four months and two years in state prison if convicted.

[source: wishtv.com | Image: Travis County Jail/AP]

Report: Disgruntled hacker disables 100 cars in Texas remotely originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[Blake Noble]

Customer names were changed to things like "Tupac,"

Win.