Raj Samani, CTO at McAfee EMEA, is worried about moves from Google to develop to driverless cars.

He said that lately cars are getting more computer code on board and as cars become increasingly connected, it exposes the automotive industry to the same threats as any other consumer device. Samani warned that cutting edge advancements such as driverless cars are great, but but the industry must ensure that it is thinking about the security implications.

He said the industry is not that great when it comes to security. The first remote keyless entry systems did not implement any security and were easily compromised. “As more and more digital technology is introduced into automobiles, the threat of malicious software and hardware manipulation increases,” he said.

Wireless devices like web-based vehicle-immobilisation systems that can remotely disable a car could potentially be used maliciously to disable cars belonging to unsuspecting owners. Recently in Texas where it was reported that 100 vehicles were disabled from a remote disable system. The system had been installed by the car dealership, but was maliciously manipulated by a disgruntled former employee.

His reasoning is that things would be a lot worse if hackers or disgruntled employees had control of your steering wheel.