In an Industry conference here on Friday, they said that hackers can remotely steal owner information, or hijack them and render them more dangerous than the truck that killed 84 people in Nice, France on July 14.
“When you look at autonomous autos, the consequences are so much greater” than the Nice attack by a possibly Islamic State-inspired man, said John Carlin, assistant US attorney general for national security,
“We know these terrorists. They don’t have the capability yet. But if they’re trying to get people to drive truck into crowds, than it doesn’t take too much imagination to think they are going to take an autonomous car and drive it into a crowd of people,” said Carlin.
General Motors’ chair and chief executive Mary Barra said that the advanced information technology that comes in new cars, especially “connectivity” systems linking cars to the internet, creates huge new challenges.
“One of these challenges is the issue of cyber security, and make no mistake, cyber security is foundational,” she said.
Barra pointed to the need to protect the personal data of customers who use their in-car system for banking or to pay for other services.
“The fact is personal data is stored in or transmitted through vehicle networks,” she said.
Within the past year, the industry and key suppliers have gotten government approval to share information among themselves on cybersecurity without the threat of anti-trust action.
Automakers are also recruiting “white hat” hackers who help hunt down vulnerabilities in the IT systems of cars.
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