Self-Driving Cars: How Automakers can Overcome Cybersecurity Issues

A lot has been going on with autonomous vehicles these days. Almost every famous car manufacturer seems to be in a rush to master the perfected version of self-driving cars. While most people believe that fully autonomous vehicles are still in their infancy stage, manufacturers think that they will dominate the roads by 2020.

The problem with autonomous cars is not the manufacturing process itself but the volume of probable outcomes that could arise from even the tiniest of miscalculations. However, governments and manufacturers have more to worry about than just manufacturing defects. What really bothers us – when it comes to traveling in self-driving vehicles is their security, i.e., the ability to ward off cybercriminals.

As the Internet of Things (IoT) is an embedded feature that can help cars of the future navigate through busy roads, making split-second decisions, the risks of falling prey to a malicious hacker is likely the most significant concern manufacturers we face going forward.

An autonomous car is already facing growing controversy over its safety and ethical decision-making capabilities. Critics have warned that self-driving vehicles would fail ethical testing in various scenarios. Some autonomous cars during the testing phase got involved in collisions and made poor moral decisions. Hence, there is a growing concern over structuring policies and legislation to accommodate legal action against cars that can be driven independently.

With a vehicle that is programmed to increase passenger safety and improve road safety in general, what happens when such cars make mistakes? Who should be held accountable for a collision in such cases? How would an autonomous vehicle react when it has to choose between the passenger’s safety and the pedestrians? All these questions have raised eyebrows for many. However, that is not the only challenge manufacturers’ face when it comes (Read more...)