Jeep hacking lawsuit shifts into gear for trial after US Supremes refuse to hit the brakes
A class-action lawsuit claiming Fiat-Chrysler knew about, but failed to fix, significant cybersecurity holes in its cars will go to trial in America later this year.
This week, the US Supreme Court refused to hear [PDF] the company's appeal to a lawsuit that was filed after security researchers revealed, back in 2015, they were able to take over a Jeep's operation because of clumsy coding in its entertainment software.
Since then the lawsuit has been rumbling through the law courts with the plaintiffs arguing Fiat-Chrysler knew about the problem for three years and failed to fix it, and the car company claiming that since none of the car owners were directly impacted by the hole that they have no right to sue.
The Jeep owners claim that they would never have bought the cars in the first place if they had known about the security risks, and claim that the cars' resale value has been significantly impacted as a result of the saga. They are seeking $50,000 per car impacted.
