IT’S a chilling thought but the whole of your small fleet of company cars grounded by an electronic hack on the systems of your cars.
And then held at a standstill until you pay for their release.
But the threat is real, says Wil Rockall, director of cyber security at KPMG.
As car manufacturers continue to make smart phone technology more integrated with their products, then the ability for computer hackers to find a security hole increases, which could have a devastating impact on an SME car fleet.
“We’ve had proof of concept where the infotainment system has been hijacked – broken into – to get into the control system and ‘drive’ the car with a laptop,” said the KPMG cyber security expert.
“In the near future it’s not hard to see a phone being hijacked if nothing further happens in the industry to tighten security. We’ve already seen the rise in mobile malware and you can imagine situations where controlling a car might be useful.
“With the increasing rise of ransomwear – where a company’s computers are encrypted by cyber hackers until money is paid out – it’s not hard to see the same thing could happen to a complete fleet. The cars could be in lockdown until money is paid.”
According to Wil, the danger will remain while manufacturers remain secretive about their development work.
The KPMG expert says that collaboration is the way forward to beat the cyberjackers.
Otherwise your small fleet of company cars could be cyber jammed with potentially disastrous effects on your business. Until you pay out the ransom demand…
Business Secretary Vince Cable launchestechUK Initiative Cyber Connect
At the Global Cyber Security Innovation Summit – held at the British Museum (17/18 Sep) to showcase cyber security capability – Business Secretary Vince Cable announced announced the appointment of Andy Williams as cyber security small business champion.
Andy will manage Cyber Connect, which will map and encourage the growth of cyber security SMEs in the UK through collaboration, business advice and international exposure.
