Ronzuki wrote:There is absolutely nothing that can't be hacked. And who is talking about defeating anything? The best hacks are the ones the get in and stay there undetected to do god knows what, whenever they want. The reasons behind the intrusions are as numerous as the systems out there to be compromised. Ironically, I've just finished reading an Underwriter's Laboratory white paper (some light Sunday afternoon BS) on cyber security (or rather lack thereof) and all of the reasons industrial systems world-wide are vulnerable six ways from Sunday. Sorry to say, but a car is a miniature, critical system as defined in this paper. Any car company that puts this kind of unnecessary technology on the road is just begging to be breached and held hostage by any number of 'players'. I was expecting to read about some credible ideas, at least, towards solutions to this epidemic problem. Instead, the pages offered up instances of critical systems being compromised over the last several years and in many words, simply put, 'we' (the world) have serious problems. No chit. Two of the biggest contributing factors are the use of unverified pieces of third party software embedded in systems programming and more seriously, complete lack of vulnerability testing. I'm shocked (not) since it's been the norm for quite some time there's little to no vetting of anything before it's unveiled. You see, that that takes enormous amounts of time and effort (read costs money) which no one wants to spend or wait for. So what do 'we' keep doing? Exasperating the epidemic by installing more of this non-sense into our everyday lives in places, like automobiles, it has no business in.
I also read in the local paper that PA is going to be a test bed for autonomous vehicles. Swell. Our roads suck for starters and around here specifically, I can hardly wait to see the congestion get even worse because one of those damn cars can't or won't pass a frigging horse and buggy that's half on the road and half off. Wonder how they're going to factor in that horses have minds of their own and they don't always play by the rules.
I guess this is where you and I fundamentally have a divide in perspective. I actually embrace technology and automation. I certainly see the vulnerabilities but they reduce the risks posed by the weakest link: the actual driver. While many car enthusiasts like us put vehicles and the task of driving as a priority, the vast majority of people don't. A car is a transportation appliance and driving is a chore to simply get to a destination for the vast majority of people on the road. Hence, you have millions of people who don't drive carefully, skillfully, or safely and even worse, don't give a %$^@. Daily, I see people driving without their headlights on in the dark or in the rain. I can't tell you how much I appreciate DRLs given it has literally saved me from intersection accidents because I could actually see the vehicle coming in the darkness.
Turn signals for lane changes? It's like it's optional or something.
Many people buy the new tires they desperately need only when they have the disposable cash rather than the actual need from a loss of safe traction. This is the reality of most drivers.
Given that car accidents pose a huge risk to mortality statistics in just about any advanced nation, I simply have to say that the advancement of vehicle technology is not only good, it's imperative. For young Americans, a car accident is the leading cause of death. Given we are even further distracted by smartphones and their apps, it's come to a point where automation is necessary to save us from ourselves. I'm far less worried about someone hacking my car than some idiot smashing into me because they were Snapchatting while driving. I haven't had my car (or anything) hacked but I have been hit by people on their phones.
Certainly, as vehicle systems become more advanced and computerized, system vulnerabilities will increase. On the contrary, vehicles will also get functionally safer. Hacks like the one you speak of are typically to steal data or monitor transactions. Hence, "The best hacks are the ones the get in and stay there undetected". Well, there's a purpose in that design that doesn't really apply to vehicles but certainly does for other computerized systems. For a vehicle, a hack would be to access it or control it. It's different in purpose from hacking into a user account of some sort to monitor activity or skim fees or personal information. Basically, you'd probably know if your car was hacked. Your whatever account online? Likely not unless the purpose was a significant theft.
Lastly, the statistics already prove up that we need the technology. The safest cars on the road happen to be the most technologically advanced ones. Despite your skepticism of Teslas, their vehicles are in fact the very safest passenger vehicles available. Even other common models that have features like automated braking are rated safer in independent testing. It's actually the older, more primitive vehicles that often pose the highest risks given they give more control to the weakest link that is the driver.
I know we all trust ourselves behind the wheel, but we seldom are the only ones on the road. When you're in a densely populated urban area (like my commute), you see human error as the greatest threat and are reminded of it daily by the accidents that you witness on a regular basis. It takes a skillful and dedicated person to hack a vehicle and deliberately try to manipulate it to compromise your safety. It takes just about nothing for someone to be drunk, high, inattentive, or reckless to kill you on the road. I see the advancement of vehicle technology as being a great boon to minimize the real risk.