"Real danger": Senator sounds alarm on car hacking vulnerability
Should there be a safety rating system for how cars withstand cyber hacking in addition to vehicle crash tests?
It's something Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey is suggesting after releasing a searing new report Sunday on hacking vulnerabilities of automobiles. Markey, who is a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said there are serious risks as the world transitions to cars with computer systems.
"It raises questions of safety, it raises questions of privacy, because no longer do you need a crowbar in order to break into a car, now you can do it with an iPad," Markey said Monday on "CBS This Morning."
According to Markey's report, nearly 100 percent of cars on the market have wireless technologies that could be vulnerable to hacking, and "most automobile manufacturers were unaware of or unable to report on past hacking incidents."
"My study indicated that many in the automotive industry don't even understand fully what the implications are of moving to this new computer-based era," Markey said.
"60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl demonstrated this type of remote car hacking in a report with DARPA, where she could be seen losing control of the acceleration and brakes in her vehicle.
In addition to vehicle safety, Markey was equally focused on the driver's privacy. He said "information is being gathered about you at all times -- where you park, where you go -- and it's being kept by the automotive industry without any real standards that are in place today."
Markey is calling for the National Highway Safety Agency and the Federal Trade Commission to create guidelines that would protect vehicles with wireless access points and provide transparency of driver data collection. He said individuals can also complain to the government to ask for more protections against data collection.
"We now need a rating system for security, for safety, for that vehicle from it being hacked by an outsider that could cause an accident, cause real danger to a family," Markey said.