Chinese-made buses in Norway can be halted remotely, spurring increased security

By&nbspAP&nbspwith&nbspEuronews

Published connected 06/11/2025 - 9:58 GMT+1 •Updated 11:11

A starring Norwegian nationalist carrier usability has said it will present stricter information requirements and measurement up anti-hacking measures aft a trial connected caller Chinese-made electrical buses showed nan shaper could remotely move them off.

Transport usability Ruter said trial results published past week showed that Chinese autobus shaper Yutong Group had entree to their power systems for package updates and diagnostics.

“In theory, this could beryllium exploited to impact nan bus," it said.

The tests — pinch buses driven successful underground mines to portion distant outer signals — were conducted some connected brand-new Yutong buses and connected three-year aged vehicles from Dutch autobus shaper VDL, nan institution said. It said nan tests showed that nan Dutch buses didn’t person nan expertise to behaviour over-the-air package updates, while nan Chinese-made buses did.

Yutong did not instantly respond to requests connected Wednesday seeking comment.

The Guardian newspaper, which reported connected nan issue, cited a connection from nan Chinese institution that said it “strictly complies” pinch nan laws and rules of places wherever its vehicles operate. The connection said information astir its buses was stored successful Germany.

The newspaper cited an unidentified Yutong spokesperson saying nan information is encrypted and is “used solely for vehicle-related maintenance, optimisation and betterment to meet customers’ after-sales work needs”.

According to Yutong's website, nan institution has sold tens of thousands of vehicles crossed Europe, Africa, Latin America, and nan Asia-Pacific region successful caller decades.

The study was initiated successful portion complete concerns astir surveillance, astatine a clip erstwhile galore countries successful Europe, North America, and beyond person been taking steps to protect information astir consumers and distant operations.

Broader worries astir distant power of EVs

The findings showed that "the shaper has nonstop integer entree to each individual autobus for package updates and diagnostics,” said Ruter, which says it runs half of Norway's nationalist carrier and operates successful Oslo and nan eastbound Akershus region.

Concerns astir distant power of electrical vehicles are not new: US regulators successful January opened a probe into Tesla aft reports of crashes involving nan usage of institution exertion that allows drivers to remotely bid their conveyance to return to them, aliases move to different location, utilizing a telephone app.

The Yutong buses are operated by group — they are not driverless vehicles for illustration taxis and shuttles successful places for illustration California and China.

“Following this testing, Ruter moves from interest to actual knowledge astir really we tin instrumentality information systems that protect america against unwanted activity aliases hacking of nan bus’s information systems,” Ruter CEO Bernt Reitan Jenssen said successful a statement.

'All types of vehicles' of this type astatine risk

In adjacent Denmark, carrier institution Movia said it was reviewing consequence assessments erstwhile it comes to cybersecurity and espionage connected scheduled buses, and imaginable measures to forestall hacking, misuse of data, and risks of disabling nan bus.

Movia said Danish authorities had not signaled immoderate cases of buses being deactivated, but it was looking for ways to destruct vulnerabilities.

The caller findings, it said, were presented astatine nan InformNorden postulation convention by advisers from nan University of South-Eastern Norway and showed that neither a hacker nor nan supplier could return power of nan bus.

“It is besides important to emphasise that nan Norwegian elder advisers stated that this is not a Chinese autobus concern, it is simply a problem for each types of vehicles and devices pinch these benignant of electronics built in,” Movia said successful an email.

Tougher information rules

Cameras successful nan buses are not connected to nan internet, truthful “there is nary consequence of image aliases video transmission from nan buses,” said Ruter, which has much than 100 Yutong buses successful its fleet. The buses cannot beryllium operated remotely, it said.

Still, Ruter said nan shaper tin entree nan power strategy for artillery and powerfulness proviso via mobile network. It said that intends that successful theory, buses “can beryllium stopped aliases rendered inoperable by nan manufacturer”.

The Norwegian institution said it's responding by imposing tougher information rules successful early procurement, processing firewalls that guarantee section power and forestall hacking, and moving pinch authorities connected “clear cybersecurity requirements”.

It's besides taking steps to hold inbound signals, “so that we tin summation penetration into nan updates being sent earlier they scope nan bus”.