The recent news reports on the hacking of the Fiat Chrysler Jeep U-Connect system creates new worries for manufacturers, engineers, drivers, government agencies,  and insurance companies.  A recall is underway to upgrade the software on the Jeeps, never thought I’d hear about a car being recalled for a software fix, and I’m sure this won’t be the first.

From a risk standpoint, manufacturers will continue to expand the connectivity offered in cars, customers will expect it and manufacturers will want to stay competitive.  The question will be how much risk they can withstand.   Meanwhile to respond,  engineers will need to manage the risk of adding connectivity by finding ways to separate the infotainment system(s) from the critical systems on the car – steering, transmission, acceleration and braking along with including a fail-safe system to allow the driver to take control of the car.     For a driver the challenge will be providing them with confidence in the fail-safe system.   Government agencies such as NHTSA and NTSB will need to develop guidelines for the design and verification of systems, while determining how these cars fit into the existing traffic model.    Finally,  insurance companies will need to undertake a risk assessment to determine how to deal with connected cars and the consequences of a hack of an on-board system.

Just as cybersecurity is growing in importance in the medical, aviation and power industries it will become essential for connected vehicles and in the near future driverless cars. Software designers will have to use firewalls to ensure system separation, hardware designers will also need to ensure separation of the electronics systems used on the cars.   There is much to be done to improve safety of operations, this is a wakeup call for everyone involved in the auto industry, as is normally the case someone has done what was not expected or thought possible.  More to come as this moves forward.

Bio:

Paul Kostek is a Principal of Air Direct Solutions LLC a Seattle based systems engineering and project management firm.