It is too early to determine whether government regulation will be needed to ensure the cybersecurity of connected cars, representatives from the auto industry and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on December 8. Regulations or government-imposed safety standards “have a potential to be a roadmap for the hackers,” said Mike Cammisa, senior director-safety at the Association of Global Automakers. “We are working with government,” Mr. Cammisa said during a connected vehicle workshop organized by the Telecommunications Industry Association.  “We are designing these vehicles with security in mind.”

Cem Hatipoglu, chief of NHTSA’s electronic systems safety research division, offered a similar view.  Government regulation by itself is inadequate to ensure the security of connected cars, he said.  “Voluntary standards are key,” Mr. Hatipoglu said.

He praised the auto industry for proactively establishing its own cyber threat information sharing and analysis center (ISAC) and noted that NHTSA was preparing a report for Congress, among other steps to address vehicle cybersecurity (TRDaily, Dec. 3). – Tom Leithauser, tom.leithauser@wolterskluwer.com

Courtesy TRDaily