Connected Vehicle Security Meetup

On July 31, the White House and Department of State hosted an inaugural meeting with key allies, partners, and industry leaders to jointly address the national security risks associated with connected vehicles, following the launch of a U.S. regulatory process earlier this year.  

Officials from the United States, Australia, Canada, European Union, Germany, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom, and other partner nations "exchanged views on the data and cybersecurity risks associated with connected vehicles and certain components," according to a readout of the meeting.

"They also affirmed that connected vehicles are emerging as a key node in critical infrastructure as they constantly connect with other vehicles, personal devices, telecommunications networks, the electric grid, and other infrastructure. The United States and like-minded nations will explore options for advancing affirmative cybersecurity standards and coordinating other possible policy measures to mitigate risks."

Senate Concerns

In a letter to the FTC (PDF) last week, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) used the data-sharing practices of General Motors, Honda, and Hyundai as symptomatic of an industrywide problem that needs immediate investigation.

"Your vehicle knows your name, your home address, your debit/credit card info, how fast you drive, how hard you brake, what you ask its voice assistant, the locations you frequent and at what times," Riley Keehn, with SBD Automotive, told the Dark Reading cybersecurity newsletter.

"The US still lacks a comprehensive, general data privacy regulation comparable to the EU's GDPR, China's PIPL/DSL/CSL framework, and other global regulations that have adopted the GDPR's model and stringency," Keehn says.

Chinese Regulations Advance

Reuters reports China's industry ministry on Thursday published draft rules on recalls and over-the-air software upgrades of intelligent connected vehicles, aiming to strengthen supervision of OTA upgrades that have become commonplace in product recalls of electric vehicles under Chinese regulations.

Update 4 August: The U.S. Commerce Department is expected to propose barring Chinese software in autonomous and connected vehicles in the coming weeks, according to sources briefed on the matter,