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Driverless cars must protect themselves against hacking, insurers say

Driverless cars must protect themselves against hacking, insurers say

Driverless vehicles need a sufficient level of security to guard against potential cyber attacks before they can become mainstream, insurers have warned.

Automated driving systems ‘must be able to detect and minimise the consequences of cyber intrusions and data security breaches’, the Association of British Insurers said when detailing suggested criteria for keeping driverless vehicles safe.

The measures need to be implemented to protect cars against the risk of hackers using connected services to spread viruses or remotely access a vehicle’s controls with possible catastrophic results. Automated: Insurers have recommended tougher safety features to protect driverless vehicles The recommendation is one of ten that both insurers and Thatcham Research, the research body, hope will be part of a set of regulations all vehicles would have to meet before being allowed to operate in a fully autonomous mode on Britain’s roads.

Other recommendations include vehicle data being made available in the event of an accident as well as vehicles being able to handle emergency situations without driver intervention.

Fully autonomous driving requires a vehicle being solely responsible for a section of a journey with the driver able to do other things as they are no longer responsible for the car.

It is anticipated that by 2021 everyday cars will be available with an automated driving system – although some experts believe they are more realistically a decade away .

Nearly all – 93 per cent – of accidents on the road are attributed to human error and the insurance industry is pushing for safer technology to ensure that potential accidents are minimised.

This could mean strong cyber security will be more important for vehicles than their physical crime prevention features, such as locks and immobilisers.

Car manufacturers are recognising the importance of high level cyber security – particularly given the growing number of connected vehicles already on the roads.

There are some vehicles already offering advanced driver assistance including cruise control and automatic lane keeping but these do require the driver to maintain constant supervision. Change: New automated driving vehicles will initially be restricted to use on just motorways In the future, the first automated driving systems will be restricted to certain areas, for example, motorways.

They are also likely to only operate at lower speeds or in queueing traffic.

Both in the UK and internationally, insurers are working with regulators and governments to make sure the right rules are in place so the first fully driverless cars are able to cope with all eventualities without a driver needing to intervene.

A consultation working through the technical details of all the recommendations is underway with the results to be passed on to the relevant national and international regulators.

James Dalton, director of general insurance policy at the ABI, said: ‘Insurers are major supporters of autonomous vehicles, which have the potential to dramatically improve road safety as well as transform mobility for thousands.

‘However it is important that the transition from increasingly sophisticated driver assistance systems, already operating in modern cars, to fully autonomous vehicles is carefully handled to avoid unnecessary problems.

‘In our increasingly connected world, cyber security is a crucial issue for everything from televisions to fitness trackers. Our cars are no different.

‘If people are to put their trust in a vehicle to get them safely from A to B, building in appropriate cyber security is essential and should be a compulsory requirement before any car is allowed to effectively drive itself.

‘It’s easy to imagine that a vehicle’s cyber security systems will soon be its most important crime prevention feature, ensuring the cars of the future are protected from data thefts and other malicious attacks.’

This is Money previously reported that supervised tests of driverless cars have been given the go ahead in London.

The tests will be conducted in Bromley and Croydon using Ford Mondeos which have been converted to self-driving cars by UK-based firm FiveAI.

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