A leading CSU Wagga academic is calling for more cyber security rules to deal with the potential hacking threat of “smart cars”.
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It comes after two people in the USA remotely took control of a Jeep Cherokee and sent it off the road.
Dr Tanveer Zia specialises in cyber security and said as smart cars become more autonomous, they could be made more vulnerable to malicious attacks.
“The fact that cars are connected to wireless networks itself introduces another doorway to cyber crimes,” he said.
“If a determinant hacker is trying to hack a car, we need to look and see if there is a loss of data being transmitted through the infrastructure system.”
There are various components in smart cars such as GPS, video cameras and radar sensors that all communicate with a vehicle’s internal computer.
Dr Zia said that a security breach of any of these components “could provide hackers with a doorway” to take over the car.
“The electronic central units within smart cars have processors as powerful as desktop computers,” he said.
“The compliance should be that mechanics, service providers and repairs should be part of the manual registration process.
“This audit control will ensure all stakeholder stakeholders in the supply chain follow the best security practices.”
However, local mechanic Paul Seaman thinks that hackers will still try find a way of breaking into a car, no matter how secure they might be.
“We get quite a few of those smart cars come through the shop,” he said.
“No matter house safe or protected from cyber security threats they become, someone is always going to find a way to out-smart the system.
“The internal makeup of some of these cars is very complex and a hacker is just going to see any new security upgrade as a challenge to break into the system.”
As more smart cars appear on the roads, Dr Zia said there should be guidelines to ensure manufacturers provide software patches and updates for their vehicles.
It means that users may have to regularly update the software in the cars, similar to that of smartphones.
“We need to make sure that any new software parts that are introduced after a bug is identified is made available to users with smart devices,” he said.
“As autonomous vehicles arrive down under, it’s time to get out ahead of the risk.”
