General Motors Addresses Cyber-Security Concerns
Citing highly publicized incidences of hackers obtaining access to sensitive customer information at Target and Home Depot, GM has appointed an executive to lead efforts to protect the computers that run the company’s vehicles. The organization, knows and Vehicle and Vehicle Services Cybersecurity, will be led by Jeffrey Massimilla, who has been with the company since 2010. GM CEO Marry Barra told reporters that Massimilla and his team would use both internal and external resources to “develop and implement protocols and strategies” to address and minimize potential risks associated with any of the company’s on-board computer technologies.
According to experts, there are anywhere from 50 to 100 computers that control steering, brakes, acceleration and other functions of new models. To date, few have the technology to conduct what safety authorities call “authentication,” i.e., determining the source of a command. As a result, the computer can be susceptible to instructions or commands from an outside source, essentially a hacker. So someone could send your car the command to stop, turn or speed up from outside the vehicle.
Experts also fear that, because most cars have computer systems that are interlinked, access to one party of the computer can give a hacker access to your entire operating system.
Cyber-security officials say that the automakers have taken great strides in implementing computerized and electronic features, but have failed to keep up with the times regarding protection from hackers. One researcher worried that the software being used in motor vehicles has nowhere near the security protections that some of the software Microsoft sells to the public contains.
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