Fiat Chrysler recalls 1.4 million vehicles due to cybersecurity risks.

On Friday, Fiat Chrysler announced the recall of over one million vehicles due to cybersecurity concerns, as certain Dodge, Jeep, and Chrysler models with touch screens were discovered this week to be vulnerable to hackers, who can reportedly shut off the cars’ engines or disable other essential functions like the brakes.

        ABC World News (7/24, 6:46 p.m. EDT, 5.84M) broadcast that Fiat Chrysler is “recalling 1.4 million vehicles” and “offering a software security update.” Investigators are also “looking into whether other vehicles may be vulnerable, too.”

        NBC Nightly News (7/24, 6:46 p.m. EDT, 7.86M) broadcast that “hackers were able to take control of a Jeep over the Internet,” as seen in “that stunning video we showed you earlier this week.” NBC News (7/24, Eisenstein, 3.73M) also reported online.

        In continuing coverage of a story from earlier this week, the New York Times (7/25, Kessler, Subscription Publication, 12.12M) reports that NHTSA realized “they had a problem they had never faced but had long feared” when the car company first phoned them over a week ago “with news that two technology researchers had hacked wirelessly into a Jeep Cherokee, through its dashboard connectivity system.” NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind praised the recall action as “the right step to protect Fiat Chrysler’s customers.”

        “The Switch” blog of the Washington Post (7/24, Peterson, 6.76M) reported that the researchers were able to connect to “a Jeep Cherokee’s brakes and steering — while the car was on the highway,” accessing “the car through Uconnect, the car’s information and entertainment dashboard.”

        The Wall Street Journal (7/25, Spector, Yadron, Subscription Publication, 6.06M) reports that Fiat Chrysler was aware of the potential for cars to be hacked through the onboard touchscreen system as early as January 2014. NHTSA will monitor the car company’s proposed solution to the problem, which does not require any action from the consumer, as it involves system-wide upgrades.