Hidden Waymo Feature Allowed Researcher to Customize Robotaxi Display
In a recent discovery, security researcher Jane Manchun Wong uncovered a hidden, unreleased feature within the Waymo app. This feature granted her the ability to customize the characters displayed on the top display of a Waymo robotaxi, affectionately known as the "dome." Wong, a prominent figure in the security research community, shared her findings on X (formerly Twitter), showcasing an image of the Waymo car's dome displaying her X handle and other custom character strings. "I hacked my Waymo into showing weird texts like empty string, 'wongmjane,' and emojis as the Car ID, pls don’t ban me or patch it @waymo lol," she tweeted. Exploiting an Unvalidated Input Wong, a resident of San Francisco, explained to TechCrunch that she achieved this customization by manipulating the Waymo mobile app on her Android phone while awaiting the arrival of her robotaxi. "The good old magic of messing around with the Waymo mobile app. I guess their servers didn’t …
