Technology

Not sure about this specific pump but this same thing happened in my town several months back and BT was used then too.

When it happened we found out that the pumps at the station in particular (and probably most) have a BT receiver tied to whatever little processor that runs the pump so either a station manager or someone servicing the pumps can access them with the right equipment, make internal adjustments etc.

In the case that happened locally to us. Someone hacked them the same way, then posted to Facebook and other social media sites to come get some free gas, etc.

I doubt AI would have that poor grammar and spelling.

USB is way safer lol.

Bluetooth is notoriously bad with security. Especially Bluetooth 4 and earlier. I'd put money on a gas station pumps Bluetooth to not be using the most up to date protocol.

At least you can lock a usb port behind an access panel

You would be surprised, and then very worried, to find out what things needlessly have bluetooth

I saw a guy detail how to hack a house through a fridge.

I have to wonder if the are confusing NFC with Bluetooth? Many newer pumps have smart chip tap pads now. I suspect they have found an exploit for this now.

Yes, considering the oil company doesn't own the gas station and still gets paid for the fuel. The person you're stealing from is the owner of the gas station who purchases the fuel and then in many areas sells fuel with very low margin in hopes of you coming into the store for snacks and drinks to make money on higher margin products. So even if they are selling a large amount of fuel, they aren't making a lot of profit to make up for the theft.

This is every petrol station in Australia, don't think I've every seen anybody do a runner, not like it's hard to catch up

This is very much the default in the Netherlands. Yes theft happens, but your license plate will be clearly visibly on CCTV meaning you will get a visit by police soon after.

I hope it will at least double to shock the system into prioritizing clean energy.

I get what you're saying, but I'm not sure you realize just how much that would hurt people. Europe is much more densely concentrated and has far better public transit options. Many parts of the US are extremely rural. My nearest grocery store is a 30 minute drive away. There are no stores in walking distance at all. There are no sidewalks. There are no busses, trains, or cabs in my area, and that is not wildly uncommon.

If costs of gas doubled, at least without viable alternatives, it would absolutely bankrupt people. And it would disproportionately impact poor people in rural areas where it's very common to commute to work 30-60 minutes of driving is a common commute. While it varies by state, US federal minimum wage in the US is $7.25/hour. Many people commute for work, and an hour drive one way is also not uncommon.

Let's take 7.25 an hour x 40 hours = $290 before taxes.

We'll keep it simple and say a person uses only 1 gallon of gas per day to get to and from work which, at $8 a gallon x 5 days a week = $40. Just that travel to and from work and no other travel at all (or maintenance on the vehicle) would be 14% of pre-tax income.

So many things need to change so I understand the perspective, but I think it's really important to consider the widespread impact. Obviously the US has a lot of issues contributing to this situation.

In that case I hope your health care is reformed to imitate what we have here.

I wouldn't wish that on anybody it sucks to pay a lot of money for gas

Because people think security and privacy are a joke, and it’s times like this where it shows.

Hardware security is still overlooked a lot in the tech industry, hence there are a ton of hardware and mechanical stuff out there that are made “smarter” but still barely have any security controls. That’s why there’s the saying “The S in IoT stands for security”. Bluetooth in itself is not secure, and they probably have a very basic control where the pump is unlocked remotely via a bluetooth device.