CISO MAG July 2017 | Page 9

BUZZ I nnovation in the automotive industry has led to a scenario where a car being manual may simply mean it has a steering wheel. Once composed of only mechanical and electrical parts, cars have now turned into complex systems that comprise sensors, microprocessors, software, and much more. The proliferation of autonomous vehicles means that microprocessors and sensors will soon take a much more active role in driving cars. However, even before self-driving cars become commonplace, modern cars are already vulnerable to hackers via in-car technology like Wi- Fi. These “connected cars” are becoming standard. In 2015, there were around 6.5 million connected cars on the road and by 2017, the figure almost doubled to 12.5 million. According to estimates, there will be as many as a quarter billion connected vehicles on the road by 2020. This new technology has also opened a floodgate of security threats. While you might be behind the wheel, potentially vulnerable software control your car’s functions. “There is almost nothing in your car that is not mediated by a computer,” said Professor Stefan Savage, Department of Computer Science, UC San Diego, while speaking to Motherboard magazine for a short documentary on car hacking. Fear of car hacking has not yet penetrated the general population’s psyche, as demonstrated by a 2016 Kelley Blue Book survey of drivers. The results of the survey show that among its sample size, very few drivers fear car hacking and most consider connected apps and Wi-Fi networks nice features to have. Worries over security have also not slowed down the pace at which connectivity features continue to be rolled out due to the real benefits all this technology can bring with it. Connectivity technologies in commercial vehicles not only improve efficiency and streamline logistics, they also lower occurrences “There is almost nothing in your car that is not mediated by a computer,” said Professor Stefan Savage, Department of Computer Science, UC San Diego, while speaking to Motherboard magazine for a short documentary on car hacking. CISO MAG | July 2017 9