A survey conducted on behalf of US-based Society of Automotive Engineers International(SAE) has discovered that malicious cyber attacks will take place on IT systems of cars by next year. And 62% of security professionals belonging to the car industry anticipate that the looming cyber threat could hit targets in the UK in the next few months.
According to Statista, the number of connected cars will double in the United Kingdom over the next 4 years from 8.94 million to 19.42 million. However, those managing the cybersecurity operations in the automotive industry which supplies cars to the UK are just 9 in full time.
“In future cyber attacks on the automotive industry will become unaccountable”, said Chris Clark, the Principal Secretary Engineer at Security Firm Synopsys.
So, companies offering connected cars as per the Internet of Things trends will see an impact on the entire supply chain when it comes to cybersecurity added Clark.
Although the survey highlights the negative points, over 31% of respondents say that they will raise their concerns to upper management, in a hope that they will be addressed at the right time.
Mike Hawes, the CEO of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has a different viewpoint on this issue. He said that the connected car manufacturers are aware of cybersecurity vulnerabilities prevailing in the current cybersecurity landscape and so have decided to invest significantly in new features to keep cars safe from hackers and snooping eyes.
