Car cyber hijacking on the rise

Cyber security was one of the topics on the agenda at the recent CyberTech conference held in Tel Aviv.

Last year, hackers in the US managed to remotely access a Jeep Cherokee SUV through its on-board computer, taking control of its steering, transmission and brakes.

A similar hack into the Tesla Model S, was carried out, officials say.

An open threat, it stands to derail short and long term gains made (if any) in the fight against online ‘car hijacking’.

Globally, manufacturers are looking for smarter ways of staying in competition while also keeping an eye on the potential threats that exist to their business models.

While most of these are not peculiar, others are, and have on several occasions threatened the very survival of car companies.

But there is hope.

Yossi Atias, founder of an Israeli startup that pledges to secure today’s cars, says there are solutions.

Eugene Kaspersky who owns an anti-virus company, speaks to the issue: ‘You call it internet of things. I call it internet of threats.’

As car makers race to make their vehicles more smarter, they will also have to deal with the security risks that go with connecting to the Internet.

The trend to use internet-connected household appliances also puts users at greater risk – especially from data theft.

Identity theft is the most common type of cyber crime, with breaches originating from cloud-connected devices. Last year, it jumped by 152%.

Cyber crime costs the global economy hundreds of billions of euros a year while average investment into security budgets rose by a quarter in 2015.

Despite gains made, the challenge lingers.