Several Tesla owners were locked out of their cars because of a network outage on September 23, Wednesday. The reason could be an “embarrassingly late” update.
A handful of Tesla owners were locked out of their applications and subsequently in their cars on September 21. The matter blames a network outage that affected all the company’s entire system, according to a report by Tech Crunch.
Only the users who own physical keys could access their cars. The ones relying on the digital key inside the vehicle’s application had to wait for the issues to get fixed.
Sorry, this is embarrassingly late. Two factor authentication via sms or authenticator app is going through final validation right now.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 14, 2020
Possible Reasons
The outage, which lasted for an hour, was caused by an internal break of its application programming interface, known as the API.
In a tweet by Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk, he stated that the possible reason for the outage could be the “embarrassingly late” rollout of updates with the new two-factor authentication security features of the vehicle.
As per Daily Mail, the outage troubled Tesla users across the US and Europe.
What’s with the new update?
Credible sources find that the new update adds the two-factor authentication feature, a not-so-new technology.
The two-factor authentication also called the two-step verification, usually is applicable for applications that connect to a physical smart device like the Tesla cars or a smartwatch. Various applications also use the same feature in setups where the user can log in to multiple devices at a time.
The two-factor authentication is a great way to keep the user protected from hackers. It offers more protection through the One Time Password (OsPANTP) directly in the application and not via SMS.
The Tesla application is a crucial asset for the company because it serves as the vehicle’s key, replacing the physical keys.
The brand has been using a pin code entry system since 2018, but users have been demanding the two-factor authentication for better security.
Since users also use the said application in various ways, like GPS tracking, the safety of the user from potential hackers is an excellent concern for Tesla.
Furthermore, the agitating incident took place in the heels time of Elon Musk’s announcement that the cheaper electric cars of the brands face a delay. The statement alone costed significant losses for the company, which was evident from the prices of its shares this week.
Meanwhile, the glitch is not a good look for the automaker and might affect buyers opting for electric cars.
Image courtesy of Nadezda Murmakova/Shutterstock