Connected Cars Could Become Security Threat

This is quoted from http://cmvlive.com/technology/connected-cars-security-threat .

Connected Cars Could Become Security Threat

Published On: Wed, Aug 22nd, 2012

Technology | By CarolMontrose 

 

iPad as a Carputer (Photo credit: Yutaka Tsutano)

The benefits of advanced computing technology are legion, but many of those myriad benefits come with serious security caveats. With the advent of the computer came the advent of the computer virus. The Internet ushered in a new digital age that included among its emergent features several pandemic worms and the specter of cyber warfare. The threats are real and the potential damages so severe that almost every susceptible machine now comes equipped with some kind of anti-virus or digital security software.
As technology becomes integrated in more and more devices, experts have seen the rise of malware designed to threaten atypical targets. Videogame consoles, web TVs, MP3 players and home security systems are only some of the many web-connected devices that have been infiltrated by innovative hackers with novel code. Experts in the automotive field are now concerned that the same kind of malicious software could be developed to target computing software in smart cars.

Cars, like all other pieces of technology, have been changed forever by the digital revolution. Instead of electrical systems, most contemporary vehicles rely on complex computing systems called ECUs. These ECUs depend on millions of lines of code to operate everything from your navigation system to your engine and brakes. These complex computing systems, experts say, are exactly the kind of interconnected systems that are most susceptible to cyber attacks.

Wireless technologies integrated in many new vehicle models are especially vulnerable to remote hacking. Experts speculate that these attacks could cause a range of harm, having effects as innocuous as baffling a climate control system to causing catastrophic damage to an engine or other essential part.

McAfee is a computing company that operates under the Intel umbrella. They’re responsible for the security software that most often treats infected PCs. The people at McAfee have begun research on vehicle cyber security out of a facility in Beaverton, Oregon. Senior McAfee executive Bruce Snell confirmed to the press that automakers are just becoming aware of their vehicles’ digital vulnerabilities. His company issued a recent report on automotive systems security titled, “Caution: Malware Ahead.” The report forecasts dire consequences if automakers don’t make an effort to stay one step ahead of hackers.

Two teams of researchers working out of the University of Washington and the University of California-San Diego have already developed malicious code that targets modern vehicles. The experts working out of those two schools managed to infiltrate a car’s navigation system from a remote laptop. Another research team at the University of South Carolina and Rutgers University in New Jersey demonstrated the ease with which a competent hacker could stage a cyber attack on a vehicle by compromising the RFID tags in tires.

None of the studies were vendor specific. The experts at McAfee caution that this problem is relevant to every manufacturer in the industry. It would be counterproductive, they argue, to single out a single company for failure to protect their vehicles’ computing systems. Everyone, apparently, needs to do more.

If this problem bears fruit in the coming years, drivers may see a spike in car insurance rates to cover the risk of damage from cyber attacks. If you’re interested in how much it would cost you to switch to a higher tech vehicle, get a free auto insurance quote online.