Yesterday’s court ruling shows two things – just how far technology has gone and why we should fear our kids!

The driver of the car that crashed into a crowd of football supporters, killing twenty, was judged to be “not responsible” because his car had an on-board computer. It was clear that this was the latest manifestation in a series of accidents in the past few months, now proved to have been caused by hackers remotely accessing BMW’s ‘Smart X’ on-board computers.

The culprits are believed to be a networked gang of Asian kids between the ages of ten and fifteen.

Yoshi Koo, an advisor to the prosecution team, says “They gained access to the car’s internal computer network, literally enslaving it, without having to touch the car. The same instructions that control brakes, power steering, engine and dashboard displays were attacked and modified, and then erased after the event, making forensic investigation almost impossible. A combination of smartphone and contaminated road traffic information was all it took. Once they had accessed one part of the car’s digital system they were able to take over the entire network.”

It seems the prosecutors have been able to employ the skills of local teenagers to get into the new hacking network and arrests are expected in the next few days.

BMW has also announced a recall of all ‘Smart X’ models, which were launched with much fanfare last year, undoubtedly to apply some teenage thinking to the problem.

Just think about it, do you know what your kids are up to when they are alone in their room?