As per the reports, a theft associated with smart cars takes place every 20 seconds on average. Car thieves do not need to put in a lot of time in stealing vehicles. They are becoming more sophisticated with the different methods they use for the process.
However, with significant advancements made in the field of car technology, threats to smart cars have been mitigated a considerable extent in 2020. This is no longer the time of conventional car alarms that are in no way effective currently. Instead, it is the time of personal alarm pagers, passive immobilizers, tracking systems, and, most importantly, cybersecurity. Automakers and After-Market companies provide add-ons and high-tech options to conventional alarms making it very difficult for thieves to grab success in their endeavors.
Cybersecurity as an Anti-Theft Measure for Smart Cars
The industry for automobiles is going through a major evolution with more and more autonomous and connected vehicles coming to the market. The smart cars of modern times come loaded with features that go a long way in enhancing the experience of the users and in improving car safety.
Nevertheless, if such features are not secured properly, they can also be used by thieves and hackers, resulting in cyberattacks. Such attacks might further cause road accidents, immobilization, financial losses, and disclosure of highly sensitive data. The safety of the users might also be endangered due to cyberattacks.
Manifold attacks on modern smart car systems have made the automotive industry aware of the requirement of security. Due to this increased concern, a commitment to developing different cybersecurity initiatives and regulations means to ensure the safety of smart cars.
ENISA, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity, came online in 2004, and since then, it has continuously been working towards making Europe cyber secure. The agency operates in close collaboration with stakeholders and member states for delivering solutions and suggestions. It even works towards improving its cybersecurity potentials. The agency also backs the growth of supportive reports to cross-border cybersecurity disasters and events on an extensive scale. Recently, the agency has worked towards showcasing the significance of cybersecurity for smart connected cars in its report.
Practices for Extenuating Threats to Smart Cars
Automakers and governmental regulators have put in place technical practices, organizational policies, and general policies to mitigate threats to modern smart car systems. To ensure organizational cybersecurity readiness, these policies, practices, and security measures have been categorized into varied domains like privacy by design, security by design, threats and risk management, and asset management.
At the same time, governance and organizational practices are also of enormous significance for ensuring the security of smart cars. These practices cover different facets like relations with suppliers, security management, incident management, awareness, and training.
Technical measures that help in securing smart cars along with back-end parts and systems involve:
- Detection which includes data validation tests; deployment of IDS or Intrusion Detection System at back-end and vehicle; audit logs and network logs for accountability functions.
- Software security ensures software integrity and authenticity before installation. It is also essential to take up different software security measures for defining Over-the-Air updates. This can further help in avoiding firmware manipulation.
- Cryptography allows the encrypting of private, sensitive, and personal data for preventing the disclosure of the same to unauthentic entities. Furthermore, encryption is widely used for authenticating connected systems. This helps in avoiding personal data manipulation and in ensuring the confidentiality of the same.
Stopping Attacks and Upgrading Operations
Now car manufacturers and owners can know who made changes in their vehicle systems by putting controls for cybersecurity in place. The system integrity of a vehicle can easily be detected and remediated to trusted and known conditions with the use of industry-leading cybersecurity products and measures.
Such products and measures can even help in managing network vulnerabilities, which include discovering and profiling assets on the network. This work further minimizes manual effort by way of integration with existing procedures and tools. Easy and efficient system remediation can now help car manufacturers and owners in getting complete asset exploration.
Florence Brown is a passionate blogger, nature lover, and a foodie. She generally writes on topics as diverse as home décor, travel, lifestyle and e-commerce and recently started working for a tools project that includes woodworking, electrician & plumbing, gardening, electrician, welding & cutting tools. For more details about tools, visit finalscope.com.
Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author.
