Driverless Cars Can Be Hacked

Any advancement opens the door for subversive activities. While the vision of the future shines bright with driverless cars, hackers find a new arena to explore their disruptive skills. Being autonomous, there are many loopholes which are potential attack doorways:

Predictability and stability of the system: The software included in autonomous cars is from different vendors. When the systems move from one vendor to another, vulnerable portals are created.
System interdependencies and escalation of privileges: Hackers can take their game to the next level by launching an attack on the intra-car networks via the integrated car communication systems.
Unestablished protocols for authenticity: It must be understood that the technology driving the autonomous cars is still in its nascent stages. While the technology in itself is nothing short of a revolutionary break-through, there are many avenues which are yet to be explored. One such area is location authentication. Since all channels of communication are via remote networks, any unauthorized entry in the channel can manipulate the information without breaking into a sweat. The authenticity of the information gathered about the location and travel distance is questionable. Such data will be hard to verify in court.

Hacking Into Autonomous Cars: The Factsheet

Probabilities remain so if there is no experimental evidence. Two researchers did just that- turned a hypothesis to a red-flag threat. Accessing the network of the autonomous cars remotely using a laptop, they were successful in cutting off the transmission and brakes with just a flick of a switch. The repercussion of this was the recall of all the affected cars which were mostly the Chrysler’s range from Fiat. Apart from highlighting the ease of hacking into the control systems of autonomous cars, the manufacturing company’s nonchalance towards security was brought to the forefront. Fiat’s solution to this software hack was to recall the cars and provide the owners with a USB authentication key- another gateway for attacks.

Regardless of the defensive measures taken, there is no set protocol to identify the removal of the malware. Hacking into autonomous cars is the grand prize for hackers who are after the money. Car manufacturing companies are placed with a huge responsibility of protecting the private information of the owners. Those involved in the development of the autonomous car technology however remain positive that although risks are high in the science, its utility will ultimately win over.