Modern cars are more vulnerable to hacking

We live in a hasty world, where many devices are controlled via the Internet. Although this is a huge benefit, which helps people to save their time and effort, this may sometimes pose danger.

According to recent investigations, modern cars become more vulnerable to hacking. Luckily, hackers have not managed to crash a car until nowadays, but this may become a reality in the nearest future.

What Makes Cars Subjected to Hacking?

Experts point out that car makers do not do enough to ensure ultimate security to modern cars. Taking into consideration that new cars with wireless connection keep emerging at the market each year, this disappointing perspective may become a fact soon. They say that cars connected and operated via the Internet resemble giant computers or smartphones. If hackers can crash computer systems, why can’t they crash a car?

The thing is that even the most reputable auto makers admit that they cannot guarantee 100% privacy and security to your vehicle. Most of them save information related to your cars in special databases that can be hacked and no preventative measures have been undertaken until this day.

According to recent research, 100% of modern cars are connected by hi-tech wireless technology, which allows their owners gain easy access to their steering wheels, engines, security systems etc. On the one hand, it is definitely a benefit, which makes it possible for car owners to take control of their functions and security from any place.  

On the other hand, security is under the question here, because hackers can use this information to take control over your car, just like you do! Isn’t that a threat to your car safety? Definitely, it is!

What Can Be Done to Prevent Car Hacking?

Being concerned with the current situation on the roads, the US government has decided to equip all modern cars with the vehicle-to-vehicle communication (V2V) – advanced life-saving computer software that will help to prevent car accidents. 

Vehicles equipped with this technology will be able to sense traffic up ahead and automatically hit the brakes to prevent the potential collision. According to some estimations, the software can help avoid over 80% of car accidents, saving more than 20000 lives each year.

This innovation, however, has one substantial drawback. Security experts warn that wireless communication technology with its advanced core controls, offers more options to hackers as well. They do not only make it possible to control a car from a distance, but also make it easier to track and record all the instructions, car movements, location, speed and other information. This driving information is further transmitted to computer servers, which, again, can be hacked!

                     

Experts underline that there may be two potential ways out of this situation: disabling driving history collection (or deleting it from computer servers) and changing the way the system works. Thus, cars with V2V software should not rely on incoming car-to-car messages, but use video camera or on-board radar data to prevent accidents. 

This will reduce the necessity to install wireless connection between cars, thus protecting them from being hacked. Unfortunately, no consensus has been achieved in this question yet.