HOUSTON, TX – Worried about getting hacked in your car? Maybe you should be.
As technology makes life easier for us, it may also make things more complicated. Modern cars are computers on wheels, and as we all know computers are vulnerable.
Varun Parkash, a University of Houston Graduate Student studying embedded systems security explained, “When you have sophisticated computers on the cars, there’s always a possibility that someone can hack into the computer and make the car behave in ways that it shouldn’t be doing.”
What you see in Hollywood movies, isn’t usually too far from the realm of possibility.
Larry Shi, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Houston said, “If the car is smart and uses any wireless communication, on the car then definitely that can be hacked.”
It means possibly taking control over anything from your radio to the steering.
So is this something we should all be worried about?
Parkash said, “It’s not just the scientific community which are finding flaws in current system, yes, it is a big concern for everyone.”
When buying your next car, you might want to find out just how much thought the manufacturers have put into making sure the car doesn’t end up taking you for a ride.
