Why Car Companies Are Hiring Computer Security Experts
“These are no longer cars,” said Marc Rogers, the principal security researcher at the cybersecurity firm CloudFlare. “These are data centers on wheels. Any part of the car that talks to the outside world is a potential inroad for attackers.”
It is no wonder that Mary Barra, the chief executive of General Motors, called cybersecurity her company’s top priority last year. Now the skills of researchers and so-called white hat hackers are in high demand among automakers and tech companies pushing ahead with driverless car projects.
One year later, a team of Chinese researchers at Tencent took their research a step further, hacking a moving Tesla Model S and controlling its brakes from 12 miles away. Unlike Chrysler, Tesla was able to dispatch a remote patch to fix the security holes that made the hacks possible.
In all the cases, the car hacks were the work of well meaning, white hat security researchers. But the lesson for all automakers was clear.
But as more driverless and semiautonomous cars hit the open roads, they will become a more worthy target. Security experts warn that driverless cars present a far more complex, intriguing and vulnerable “attack surface” for hackers. Each new “connected” car feature introduces greater complexity, and with complexity inevitably comes vulnerability.
See the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/07/technology/why-car-companies-are-hiring-computer-security-experts.html?_r=0