A government watchdog urged the Department of Transportation on Monday to ramp-up its cybersecurity efforts as the automobile industry continues to roll out computer-assisted cars that pose the possibility of being hacked.
The 61-page report published by the Government Accountability Office states that while the DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has taken steps towards addressing cybersecurity issues raised by modern automobiles, the agency has stalled with respect to ensuring the nation is able to reel back from a hypothetical hack attack.
Computer programs that control features ranging from cruise control and climate to acceleration and brakes are increasingly apparent in modern automobiles, and it’s not rare for modern luxury cars to be powered with software consisting of more than 100 million lines of code, the GAO wrote in its report.
