In-brief: Consumers express concerns about connected cars and say they assume vehicles will be hacked.
Business Insider picked up on a survey on connected vehicles by the folks over at Kelly Blue Book – the unofficial bible for all things “automobile” that has some interesting insights for automakers and those of us in the security community. Among them: consumers seem not-too-concerned about vehicle hacking.
The Kelly Blue Book survey of 813 visitors to the company’s website found that 62% think “connected cars will be hacked,” and that a minority (42%) said they “want cars to be more connected.” That could be a sign that the automobile industry is getting out over its skis a bit with connected vehicle technology.
The strong majority who believe that connected vehicles will be hacked shouldn’t be surprising. After all, connected vehicles have been hacked, and quite publicly. GM recalled 1.4 million vehicles after a demonstration of a remote, software based attack on critical vehicle systems by researchers Chris Valasek and Charlie Miller in July. So…are they confident about connected vehicles being hacked because they’ve read about connected vehicles being hacked?
Maybe not. According to Kelly, only 26% of the more than 800 people surveyed reported hearing reports of car hackings in the last year, despite the media attention to car hacking. In fact, that number was lower than the percentage who reported hearing of car hacking the year prior.
Other interesting stats from the survey:
- Millennials are the least likely of all generations to think vehicle hacking will be a frequent problem within the next three years. Just 50 percent of Millennials do, compared with 70 percent of all respondents surveyed.
- The majority of Millennials support vehicles becoming more connected (60 percent) compared with 42 percent of all consumers.
- Desire for in-car apps is tempered by security concerns. Only 13 percent of consumers would never use Google’s Android Auto or Apple CarPlay while driving if it increased the potential for their vehicle to be hacked.
Auto manufacturers should be responsible for software security that prevents hacking, while insurers should cover losses due to hacks, the survey revealed. Forty-four percent of consumers think the vehicle manufacturer is most responsible for securing a vehicle from hacking vulnerabilities. More than two-thirds view vehicle manufacturers as partially responsible, even if a car is hacked through a mobile phone’s software or applications, the survey found.
Read more at Business Insider: Smart Car Hacking Major Problem for IoT – Internet of Things – Business Insider