The automotive cybersecurity market could exceed $22 billion over the next seven years, based on security systems alone. In fact, digital technology in new generation cars, not only self-driving cars, but also thinking only of communication systems with production companies, is growing at a dizzying pace, improving more and more and highlighting at the same time the need for a global approach to security, to face the most sophisticated threats.
Future risks
Digitization grows and necessarily involves more and more actors, so even cars are equipped with increasingly effective, precise and evolved but necessarily interconnected systems, easy prey for cyber criminals. The automotive industry will thus find itself facing growing threats that will require a focused and aware approach. The vulnerabilities of cars that connect with social media or e-commerce channels, for example, will pave the way for the bad guys to access people's personal spheres, to a multitude of sensitive data, too often already ill-protected.
Both the driver assistance systems or the autonomous functions of the car can be compromised, putting the lives of the passengers at risk, but cyber criminals could also have access to the data on the smartphone connected to the car or to the GPS positions. Everything must be thought of in view of the connection of the systems with the computer networks of the manufacturing companies themselves, which could prove to be open doors, or almost so, for targeted attacks on organizations. And recent analyzes would have identified numerous flaws in the systems of the largest players in the automotive sector, with poorly protected documents and accounts.
