Sunday 09/November/2025 – 02:21 AM
About three months ago, the Oslo Transport Authority, Ruter, conducted secret tests on two buses outside the Norwegian capital, one made by the Dutch company VDL Groep and the other made by the Chinese company Yutong.
The authority took the two buses to an underground mine, completely isolated from any external signals, to conduct a series of technical tests.
During the examination, Rutter discovered a disturbing surprise: the Chinese bus contained software that allowed its manufacturer to stop or disable it remotely.
The authority said in a statement issued this month that this flaw could theoretically be exploited to affect the operation of the bus.
China remotely disrupts Norway’s buses
The authority explained that the Dutch bus did not show any similar vulnerability, noting that it was older than its Chinese counterpart.
It turned out that the Yutong electric bus was brand new, equipped with an over-the-air control system, which gives the Chinese company remote access to the bus and its computer systems, for diagnostic purposes and software updates.
To achieve this, the bus was equipped with a small device containing a SIM card connected to the battery system and controlling the power supply, which raised concerns about the possibility of it being used to control the bus remotely in certain circumstances.
