Using technology to build cars that can talk to each other and the surrounding environment could make driving safer and easier, but Congress is worried that the development of connected cars holds dangers that aren’t being adequately addressed. Members of the House of Energy and Commerce Committee wrote a letter to 17 carmakers and the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration asking whether cybersecurity is being taken seriously enough as car software continues to advance.
“Connected cars and advancements in vehicle technology present a tremendous opportunity for economic innovation, consumer convenience, and public health and safety,” lawmakers wrote in theletter. “These benefits, however, depend on consumer confidence in the safety and reliability of these technologies.”
The letter asked the agency and the car companies, which included the biggest brands like Ford and Nissan as well as higher end companies like Porsche and Tesla, about their plans to create cybersecurity measures that will prevent hackers from getting into the system. They asked the companies to sent them details, including testing arrangements and how they measure the success of the security, by June 11.
“The integration and convergence of transportation and communications technologies in connected cars offers tremendous opportunity for innovation, improved performance, convenience and safety,: they wrote. “All of these features, however, provide a gateway for potential threats.”
If the security of a connected car were breached, personal information stored in the car could be stolen. Even worse, it’s not impossible that hackers could take over the actual controls of the car, essentially hijacking it and messing with the systems that control the engine, brakes and other critical systems. As and when self-driving cars start hitting the roads, the problem could be even worse.
Cybersecurity companies, like the local Kaprica Security are working on systems to keep hackers out of transportation technology and the car companies have been talking to each other about setting standards for vehicle cybersecurity. But even with those efforts and work being done by government agencies, it’s going to take a lot of coordination between the government and carmakers to keep people safe from hackers, even as their cars get smarter. The lawmakers say they want it to be a combined effort in order to improve the overall digital safety of connected cars.
“Threats and vulnerabilities in vehicle systems may be inevitable, but we cannot allow this to undermine the potential benefits of these technologies,” they wrote. “The industry and NHTSA have an opportunity to prepare for the challenges that advanced vehicle technologies present, and to develop strategies to mitigate the risks.”
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