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FrodosPet

(5,169 posts) Tue Apr 26, 2016, 06:00 PM Apr 2016

Security Nightmare of Driverless Cars

http://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/security-data-protection/cyber-security/security-nightmare-of-driverless-cars/

Oct 25, 2015

The fear of malicious actors taking control of glaring flaws in smart cars is on the rise. This threat is therefore considered to be one of the major technical challenges confronting the automotive industry today.

~ snip ~

Remote access to vehicles could be gained through vulnerabilities in the connected ecosystem. With the series of controlled hacking demonstrations on autonomous vehicles leading to discovery of fundamental flaws, companies are starting to notice the potential security threats.

“Such incidents could demolish public confidence in autonomous vehicles overnight and undo years of costly research and development,” says Jan Mohr, who co-authored a research report on driverless cars.

~ snip ~

A security researcher from the firm Security Innovation has written a paper on how to exploit LiDAR sensors using a low-powered laser. He will be presenting a talk on ‘Self-Driving and Connected Cars: Fooling sensors and tracking drivers’ at BlackHat Europe during November this year.

~ snip ~

In the long term, self-driving cars will USUALLY be safer than human drivers. But there will be some serious problems in the transition.

8 replies

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Highlight:

Security Nightmare of Driverless Cars (Original Post) FrodosPet Apr 2016 OP

I see us as horse-and-buggy users wondering how the automobile will ever work. Oneironaut Apr 2016 #1

I saw one of those Google cars in Rush hour traffic recently Skink Apr 2016 #2

And it scared you? Egnever Apr 2016 #3

Not as much as a second Clinton administration Skink Apr 2016 #4

As long as no one does anything the car is not expecting FrodosPet Apr 2016 #5

Thousands of miles logged not a single death Egnever Apr 2016 #6

They are going to have to share the roads with humans for at least 2 to 3 decades FrodosPet Apr 2016 #8

Let's start with unpaved roads and snow storms. longship Apr 2016 #7

Oneironaut

(5,504 posts)

1. I see us as horse-and-buggy users wondering how the automobile will ever work.

Reply to FrodosPet (Original post)

Tue Apr 26, 2016, 06:11 PM

Apr 2016

The answer is better technology. We'll get there, but safety first. Google might be too ambitious letting automatic cars drive alone. Let's get the technology down first, and then we can give it a try.

Btw. the best defense against hackers is to expose as little of the software as possible to potential tinkering. This requires good programmers who know what vulnerabilities are where. You're not going to get that with outsourcing.

Skink

(10,122 posts)

2. I saw one of those Google cars in Rush hour traffic recently

Reply to FrodosPet (Original post)

Tue Apr 26, 2016, 06:16 PM

Apr 2016

Egnever

(21,506 posts)

3. And it scared you?

Reply to Skink (Reply #2)

Tue Apr 26, 2016, 06:23 PM

Apr 2016

Skink

(10,122 posts)

4. Not as much as a second Clinton administration

Reply to Egnever (Reply #3)

Tue Apr 26, 2016, 06:25 PM

Apr 2016

FrodosPet

(5,169 posts)

5. As long as no one does anything the car is not expecting

Reply to Egnever (Reply #3)

Tue Apr 26, 2016, 06:32 PM

Apr 2016

Everything is fine.

The accidents that HAVE happened in live road testing are because of humans doing unpredictable things.

OTOH, if it is hazy, or raining, or snowing, and the car has to deal with more electromagnetic noise than signal, it might get a bit tricky. Yes, there will be accidents. Yes, people will die. But after 10 to 20 more years of testing, and the installation of a couple hundred billion dollars to make the roadways and real time data delivery systems more robust, very ffew people will be killed or injured.

Egnever

(21,506 posts)

6. Thousands of miles logged not a single death

Reply to FrodosPet (Reply #5)

Tue Apr 26, 2016, 06:35 PM

Apr 2016

If anything these cars are over cautious.

The only accident that wasn't Human error was a 2 mph fender bender.

FrodosPet

(5,169 posts)

8. They are going to have to share the roads with humans for at least 2 to 3 decades

Reply to Egnever (Reply #6)

Tue Apr 26, 2016, 07:03 PM

Apr 2016

The overcautious approach of autonomous vehicles confuses human drivers.

They are coming, they are inevitable, and it is going to cost up to a trillion to build the infrastructure and technology for safe and practical wide spread adoption.

longship

(40,416 posts)

7. Let's start with unpaved roads and snow storms.

Reply to FrodosPet (Original post)

Tue Apr 26, 2016, 06:46 PM

Apr 2016

Which are the normal situation hereabouts, then we can worry about hacking.

Then, there's the problem of all the assholes driving on the roads which no self-driving car could ever anticipate.

Self-driving cars will only work when:

1. all cars are self-driving

2. all roads are paved

3. there's no fucking winter!!!

One might as well wish for warp drives, transporters, and tractor beams as self-driving cars on the public thoroughfares. They won't be on any thoroughfares around here anytime soon, and never in winter when the very narrow two lane roadway is hidden under a white blanket.

It all sounds like a Matrix wet dream to me.

My prediction: The first widespread adaptation of self-driving vehicles (other than rich yuppies who can afford them) will be long haul truckers traveling across the Interstate highways.

My second prediction: The results of my first prediction coming true will be the disabuse of anybody who thought my first prediction was a good idea.

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