TRL, which until recent years was known as the Transport Research Laboratory, has reported that it is investigating “the everyday risks of cyber security breaches as vehicles become more digitally controlled.”

According to researchers such research is increasingly important as the next generation of autonomous vehicles make their debut next year (something that has been covered by Tyrepress/Tyres & Accessories a number of times in the past – see “Automotive suppliers, smart cars, intelligent tyres and safety concerns” and “Researchers Hack a Hole In Tyre Tag Security” for more on this subject). The specific risk is said to be related to the interception of data packages communicated to and from vehicles is ever present. Therefore the encryption and decryption of software and data is likely to become “the battle ground between the vehicle manufacturers and the cyber terrorists or hackers as programmers will need to be able to ensure rigour in the systems’ coding”, says TRL