Driverless cars vulnerable to hacking and could be used to carry out suicide attacks, Researchers developing new security solutions

Automotive industry is currently undergoing an electrification process. In a few years, every new vehicle sold will have some degree of autonomy built in. Carmakers from Google to Apple, Tesla to Volkswagen are trying to make drivers obsolete, handing control of the wheel to a computer that can make intelligent decisions about when to turn and how to brake. Meanwhile, the coronavirus has both strengthened the use case for robot drivers and labs and factories where the technology was being refined. Several of the groups developing self-driving technology set their sights on 2021 for initial deployment, according to a recent report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance—and that was before the Covid-19 pandemic sidelined engineers.

While these driverless cars shall be highly useful for under age, elderly, blind, intoxicated, and handicapped users, however these driverless cars and remote controlled cars can also become terrorist’s best weapon as warned by FBI’s report. These cars can also be hacked by terrorists and used by terrorists to carry out spectacular attacks. All these driverless cars such a GM’s OnStar, Mercedes S-Class and Google driveless cars  are connected to internet hence just like other critical infrastructure networks they are vulnerable to hacking by remotely manipulating  controls for cruise control, braking, locking/unlocking and  accident/airbag reporting to their malicious ends.

In 2015, two security researchers showed how easy it is to hack commercial vehicles. Self-driving lorries which are to be trialled on England’s motorways could be vulnerable to cyber-attack, an official report warned. A feasibility study of the Government’s plan said there was a risk of a ‘malicious takeover’ of the convoys, putting road users at risk. In 2019, the team, from the security lab of the Chinese tech giant Tencent, demonstrated several ways to fool the AI algorithms on Tesla’s car. By subtly altering the data fed to the car’s sensors, the researchers were able to bamboozle and bewilder the artificial intelligence that runs the vehicle.

Terror group Islamic State is employing scientists and weapons experts to convert commercial technologies into lethal weapons to carry out sophisticated “spectacular” attacks in Europe. The IS research and development team has produced fully working remote controlled cars to act as mobile bombs. A video explaining required additions and modifications has also been released to train terrorist groups. It has been reported that they have added sophisticated countermeasures to fool security-men including mannequins with self-regulating thermostats and laser eyes to fool infrared cameras. “This new strategy will eliminate the need for suicide bombers who must sacrifice their lives in order to carry out attacks. In Iraq, for instance, suicide car bombings reach as much as 50 per week, and ISIS is poised to lose thousands of fighters in a matter of months to carry out suicide missions,” writes Chris Loterna of HNGN. Now the researchers are working to help manufacturers defend against attacks for both regular cars and autonomous vehicles.