A new report by U.S.-based Consumer Watchdog warns that connected vehicles will be targets of serious cyber threats that could pose a safety risk to the driver, and by extension its other vehicle occupants.
“The troubling issue for industry technologists is that these vehicles’ safety-critical systems are being linked to the Internet without adequate security and with no way to disconnect them in the event of a fleet-wide hack.”
Safety-critical features include things like the engine and brakes. This means that vehicles with something as simple as an infotainment system that is connected to the Internet through a cell phone can introduce a threat. The design of this feature, based on the survey, can allow hackers to control and even take over a vehicle’s operations from the Internet.
Consumer Watchdog offered several recommendations to help manage the issue, including having the U.S. automotive industry agree to a standard protocol that would ensure vehicles are not connected to wide-area networks until there is proof that they are immune to hackers.
For automakers, the report advises them to introduce an Internet “kill switch” that cuts the connection between the Internet and what they consider to be safety-critical systems.
“To protect the public, carmakers should install 50-cent ‘kill switches’ in every vehicle, allowing consumers to physically disconnect their cars from the Internet and other wide area networks,” said Consumer Watchdog in its report. “Otherwise, if a 9/11-like cyber-attack on our cars were to occur, recovery would be difficult because there is currently no way to disconnect our cars quickly and safely. Mandatory ‘kill switches’ would solve that problem.”
The topic of cyber security has taken on a greater importance over the years, as connected and autonomous vehicle technologies continue to evolve and new companies are created to help consumers, dealers, and OEMs deal with cyber threats.
