--- title: "Hackers Stick Tape on Speed Sign, Trick Teslas Into Going Faster" description: "Researchers posing as hackers tricked a Tesla from 2016 with cruise control enabled into driving up to 50 mph in a 35 mph zone using a small piece of tape." date: "2020-02-19" modified: "2020-02-19" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/hackers-trick-teslas-going-faster" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Tesla" tags: - "Model X" - "Self-driving cars" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Hackers Stick Tape on Speed Sign, Trick Teslas Into Going Faster ![Researchers posing as hackers tricked a Tesla from 2016 with cruise control enabled into driving up to 50 mph in a 35 mph zone using a small piece of tape.]() *\Image: Povolni/Trivedi\* ## That's Not a Three In a [troubling experiment](), researchers at security firm McAfee were able to trick two 2016 Teslas, with cruise control enabled, into driving up to 50 mph in a 35 mph zone — simply by sticking two inches of black tape over the three on the speed sign, making the vehicles think they were in an 85 mph zone. https://youtu.be/4uGV_fRj0UA It's a scary indication that contemporary autonomous driving features might not be as reliable as one might think. The trick only works on Teslas featuring Hardware Pack 1 camera systems, installed in vehicles between 2014 and 2016, deployed by a company called MobilEye — though more than 40 million vehicles, including many Tesla models, feature this system, according to McAfee. ## Speed Hack The most minimal approach that still manged to fool the system in this way was a simple two inch strip of black tape. "Even to a trained eye, this hardly looks suspicious or malicious, and many who saw it didn’t realize the sign had been altered at all," reads McAfee's blog post. ![]() Luckily, the exploit did not work on hardware newer than Tesla's hardware Pack 1 — in fact, newer Teslas don't use traffic sign recognition technology at all. But "the vulnerable version of the camera continues to account for a sizeable installation base among Tesla vehicles," according to McAfee. **READ MORE:** [Hackers can trick a Tesla into accelerating by 50 miles per hour]() \[*MIT Technology Review*\] **More on Tesla:** *[Tesla Computer Hardware Stuns Competitors: “We Cannot Do It”]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()