Here's how to keep cars out of hackers' reach

WITH so many exaggerated Hollywood depictions of car-hacking scenarios, it's easy to get carried away and imagine a future in which cars are hacked by criminals or terrorists and used as weapons. There are reasons such scenarios haven't yet taken place, but could they? And if they can, how can we prevent them?

Some may argue that the likelihood of cars being used as weapons is quite low from a technical standpoint, but there really isn't anything stopping attackers from succeeding in doing so by investing the time and effort.

Modern cars are controlled by computer systems, and the most fundamental property of a computer system is the software that governs the operation of the device. Software is inherently susceptible to a wide variety of threats and vulnerabilities. Under the right conditions, any system may be compromised, and its behaviour altered, leading to less-than-desirable results.