WILL AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES BE AT RISK TO HACKING?
Vehicle hacking has become a serious concern in the wake of several high profile hacks like the 2015 hack of a Jeep Cherokee conducted by Wired Magazine. Mikko Hypponen, a Finnish security expert with the firm F-Secure, warns that hacking could present an even bigger threat to autonomous vehicles. Hypponen believes that as self-driving cars become more widespread hackers will increasingly target the vehicles. The automated nature of the vehicles also presents the risk for new forms of hacking not yet applied to cars. In particular, Hypponen cautions that ransomware, a hack that is used to hold an individual’s computer hostage until a ransom is paid to the hacker, could be used to disable autonomous vehicles. The Insurance Information Institute estimates that by 2030, 25% of all cars sold will be autonomous. Although, Hypponen presents a potentially bleak hack filled future for autonomous vehicles he admits that the vehicles have the potential to improve lives and businesses even with the risks
