Protecting Connected Vehicles from Cyber Intruders

Hackers focus on connected cars because they have multiple entry points and multiple ways to profit from attacks

Fremont, CA: More than half of all cars sold globally came with internet connectivity. As a result, modern automobiles have begun to resemble mobile supercomputers, each containing millions of lines of code and capable of processing massive amounts of data. The automotive industry hopes to use this data to improve the driver experience and monetize the user insights revealed by this data, but increased connectivity also carries significant risk.

Here, we'll look at some of the most pressing cybersecurity issues confronting connected cars today and in the years to come.

Cybersecurity Threats to Connected Cars

Hackers focus on connected cars because they have multiple entry points and multiple ways to profit from attacks. Since 2016, cyberattacks on connected vehicles have increased nearly 100 percent year on year, revealing significant issues in securing the supply chain of related components and the cars' apps. The most serious potential threats to vehicle systems are: the vehicle itself is stolen, user information being extracted via data breaches, and cars performing unwanted actions that endanger the driver's and others' physical safety.

How Connected Car Apps Lead to Security Flaws

The vulnerability of the apps associated with connected cars is a common thread running through these potential threats. Software developers must prioritize related car cybersecurity, but this is not always easy. Maintaining a large enough in-house security team to maintain application security at the required level may not always be a viable option for automakers.

Applications are already the third most common attack vector for infiltrating connected vehicles. With the increase in thefts, apps are likely to become even more popular targets. Kaspersky Lab, a cybersecurity firm, has also explicitly warned of the dangers of connected car applications, identifying how they introduce some significant flaws in related car cybersecurity.

The following are some of the threats posed by insecure connected car apps:

• Reverse engineering and tampering with apps to create bogus, malware-infected versions

• Investigating an app for unencrypted login information, data, or encryption keys tampering with applications to insert phishing overlays on a login screen or inject other malicious code

• Overcoming rooting/jailbreaking safeguards to use an app without security safeguards

• Reverse engineering to find security flaws in the connected car app that can be exploited