A 19-year-old safety researcher claims to have hacked remotely into greater than 25 Tesla vehicles in 13 nations, saying in a sequence of tweets that he found a software program flaw within the firm’s methods.

David Colombo, a self-described info know-how specialist, tweeted Tuesday that the software program flaw permits him to unlock doorways and home windows, begin the vehicles with out keys and disable their safety methods.

Colombo additionally claimed he can see if a driver is current within the automotive, activate the automobiles’ stereo sound methods and flash their headlights. 

{The teenager} didn’t reveal the precise particulars of the software program vulnerability, however mentioned it was not inside Tesla’s software program or infrastructure and added that solely a small variety of Tesla homeowners globally have been affected. His Twitter thread elicited a strong response, with greater than 800 retweets.

A message to Colombo on Twitter in search of remark was not instantly answered. A consultant for Tesla in China declined to remark, whereas the automaker’s international press staff didn’t reply to an e mail in search of remark outdoors of West Coast enterprise hours.

In keeping with one on-line report, U.S.-based Tesla has a vulnerability disclosure platform the place safety researchers can register their very own automobiles for testing, which Tesla can pre-approve. The corporate pays as much as $15,000 for a qualifying vulnerability.

Colombo later tweeted he has been in contact with Tesla’s safety staff, and mentioned they have been investigating the problem. The staff mentioned they may come again to him with any updates, he mentioned.