Hacking

The launch of Williams new FW43B car ruined by hackers

The presentation of Williams’s new Formula One car was ruined by hackers that forced the team to abandon the launch through an augmented reality app.

The Williams team presented its new Formula One car on Friday, but hackers partially ruined the launch by hacking an “augmented reality” app that was designed to show the new vehicle.

The British team, now owned of the American investment firm Dorilton Capital was presenting the new FW43B car, which has “a dramatic new visual identity sporting a livery inspired by Williams’ all-conquering cars of the 1980s and 1990s, combining blue, white and yellow accents.”

The formula 1 team planned to use an augmented reality app to present the car and give the fans an immersive experience, but “the app was hacked prior to launch.”

The idea to use an augmented reality app was also a consequence of the ongoing pandemic and the need to involve the fans that were not able to physically participate in the event.

The app was designed to allow fans to manipulate the car in its new livery in 3D.

The hackers were able to hack the app, steal the information and leaked the image of the FW43B online before the scheduled launch.

Source Sky Sport

This year, Williams has chosen the drivers George Russell and Nicholas Latifi for his team.

“Williams Racing is a sporting icon, and a team that has forged a reputation of success through sheer determination and grit intertwined with innovation, passionate and skillful race-craft and an absolute desire to win,” said chief executive Jost Capito.

“We were very much looking forward to sharing this experience with our fans, particularly during this difficult time when being able to bring in-person experiences directly to our fans is sadly not possible.” reads a Williams’ statement.

Williams team apologized for the security breach and to abandon plans to launch the car via the augmented reality app.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Williams)

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Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.

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