Automakers strive to avoid the attack of hackers

“Human lives are involved, so cybersecurity is our top priority,” said Kevin Tierney, vice president for global cybersecurity at General Motors. The company has 90 engineers working full-time on cybersecurity, practicing what they call “intensive defense”, removing unnecessary software and creating rules that allow vehicle-only systems. communicate with each other as needed.

Maj-Britt Peters, spokesperson for the company’s software and technology group, said this is a practice also adopted by Volkswagen. She notes that Volkswagen’s sensitive vehicle control systems are kept in separate areas.

Continental, a major supplier of electronic parts to automakers, uses an intrusion detection and prevention system to prevent attacks. “If the throttle position sensor is talking to the airbag, then that is not planned,” Mr. Smoly said. “We can stop this, but we won’t do it while the car is in motion.”

However, the hackers are determined to eventually find a way in. So far, cybersecurity on the medium has been a patchwork endeavor, with no international standards or regulations. But that is about to change.

This year, a United Nations regulation on the cybersecurity of vehicles came into effect, forcing manufacturers to conduct various risk assessments and report on intrusion attempts to certify availability. screen security. This regulation will take effect for all vehicles sold in Europe from July 2024 and in Japan and Korea in 2022.

Although the United States is not among the 54 signatories, vehicles sold in the United States are unlikely to be built to meet different cybersecurity standards than vehicles sold elsewhere, and vice versa.

“The United Nations regulations are global standards, and we must meet global standards,” said GM’s Mr. Tierney.