The technology for driverless vehicles has been evolving rapidly, but a new report warns that the threat of cyber attacks will hamper their use.
Concerns over hacking were one of the major technical challenges, according to the World Economic Forum and Boston Consulting Group which researched obstacles to driverless cars.
Attacks could demolish public confidence in the cars overnight, said the report’s co-author, referring to attacks already experienced by several manufacturers.
“In one well-publicised incident, researchers connected a laptop directly to the controller area network – the system which connects multiple vehicle functions – of a conventional car, [giving] them full control over nearly every system, as they demonstrated by disabling the brakes in a controlled environment,” Jan Mohr said.
Another example of experimental hacking took place with students gaining remote access to a new car. They were able to unlock it, sound the horn, flash the lights and open the sunroof while the car was moving.
The use of networked systems, such as satnav, phones and web connections, helps hackers gain access. While cryptography is possible, it is more difficult when the systems need to be inexpensive, small and touch enough to fit into a vehicle.
The report said another challenge is to improve navigation systems so that the current 10 metres level of accuracy is improved to 10 centimetres.
