In Letter To 20 Automakers, Senator Demands Answers On Cybersecurity

chicksdaddy writes "Cyber attacks on 'connected vehicles' are still in the proof of concept stage. But those proofs of concept are close enough to the real thing to prompt an inquiry from U.S. Senator Ed Markey, who sent a letter to 20 major auto manufacturers (PDF) asking for information about consumer privacy protections and safeguards against cyber attacks in their vehicles. Markey's letter, dated December 2, cites recent reports of 'commands...sent through a car's computer system that could cause it to suddenly accelerate, turn or kill the breaks,' and references research conducted by Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek (PDF) on the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape. 'Today's cars and light trucks contain more than 50 separate electronic control units (ECUs), connected through a controller area network (CAN) ... Vehicle functionality, safety and privacy all depend on the functions of these small computers, as well as their ability to communicate with one another,' Markey wrote. Among the questions Markey wants answers to: What percentage of cars sold in model years 2013 and 2014 do not have any wireless entry points? What are automakers' methods for testing for vulnerabilities in technologies it deploys — including third pressure technologies? Markey asks specifically about tire pressure monitors, bluetooth and other wireless technologies and GPS (like Onstar). What third party penetration testing is conducted on vehicles (and any results)? What intrusion detection features exist for critical components like controller area network (CAN) buses on connected vehicles?"

Awesome

[onyxruby]

Out do nothing congress is finally doing something useful. These are the kinds of questions we should be asking before problems start to occur and while there are chances to try to introduce standards. It's like the Toyota sudden acceleration thing, everyone assumed it was careless people until someone did a proper audit and discovered a complete lack of industry best practices that everyone assumed had been in place.

Tell him to pound sand

[alvinrod]

I'd tell him to pound sand until he can provide some answers about privacy protections and safeguards preventing the government from illegally spying on its citizens.

If only Senator Markey...

[Bartles]

...showed as much interest in the security of Healthcare.gov, we might actually get somewhere. But of course, why worry about the security of a Big Government project, when you have some evil corporations to kick around.

Re:Stupid Senator

[hey!]

Ah yes, the culture of "zing". It's much more important to catch a politician (or more likely, one of his staff) in a typo than to pay attention to the substance of what he's written.

My hat's off to you. You, sir, are obviously a genius.