Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, under pressure from federal regulators, said Friday it will recall 1.4 million cars and trucks to protect them from cyber security attacks just days after Wired magazine revealed that a Jeep Cherokee could be hacked remotely.
The automaker also has been under pressure from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to take action faster on safety issues and to work harder to communicate with customers when their cars are affected by recalls.
“Launching a recall is the right step to protect Fiat Chrysler’s customers and it sets an important precedent for how NHTSA and the industry will respond to cybersecurity vulnerabilities,” NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said in a statement.
Rosekind said electronics and cybersecurity experts from NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation and the Electronic Systems Safety Research Division will continue look into the issue.
“In addition to encouraging this recall notice, NHTSA today opened a recall query investigation to further assess this. Opening this investigation will allow NHTSA to better assess the effectiveness of the remedy proposed by Fiat Chrysler,” Rosekind said.
