Car-hacking gets real

 
 Sci-fi fantasy no more. (Gabe Ginsberg/FilmMagic/Getty)

Many new cars can be turned on and off with a tap of a smartphone. Others can apply the brakes while a driver is distracted, park themselves and maintain safe distances from surrounding vehicles. But with their increasing reliance on electronic controls, cars open themselves up to malicious manipulation.

Responding to the growing potential of unauthorised car “hacks”, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an agency under the US government’s Department of Transportation, recently convened the Electronics Systems Safety Research Division.

In a US Senate hearing last month, the agency's administrator David Strickland said that as electronic systems overtake mechanical ones,  new challenges are presented, “primarily in the areas of system reliability and cyber-security – the latter growing more critical as vehicles are increasingly more connected to a wide variety of products."

His administration is trying to get out ahead of potential attackers, as well as address other electronics safety concerns. In his testimony to the Senate, Strickland said future electronics attacks could travel via internet connections, USB ports and mobile networ