Ernest Aduwa comments in SC Magazine regarding motor industry cyber security flaws

Solicitor Ernest Aduwa comments in SC Magazine in relation to a motor industry report highlighting cyber security flaws in the sector.

Ernest’s comments were published in SC Magazine, 7 February 2019, and can be read here.

“Despite a huge potential for growth in the near future for connected cars, the automotive industry is presently lagging behind in terms of introducing cyber-security in automotive technologies at the design stage or testing upcoming technologies or products for security vulnerabilities…

…A report published by SAE International, a global association of engineers and technical experts in the aerospace, automotive and commercial-vehicle industries, and Synopsis has highlighted existing deficiencies in the automotive industry in terms of preparing for challenges in cyberspace.

According to the report, while 30 percent of organisations do not have an established cyber-security programme or teams, 63 percent of automotive professionals do not test a majority of the automotive technology they develop for security vulnerabilities. A typical automotive organisation has only nine full-time employees devoted to cyber-security…

…Commenting on these findings, Ernest Aduwa, a solicitor at criminal defence firm Stokoe Partnership Solicitors, told SC Magazine UK that while the automotive industry is aware of the cyber-security problems faced by modern vehicles, the same cannot be said about the consumer, those who will be buying these modern vehicles. This means, the industry is likely to profit from consumer ignorance while it is in its “trial and error” stages of rolling out these modern vehicles to the mass public.

“The industry is actively trying to resolve issues identified, but more needs to be done to raise consumer awareness in order to determine whether a roll out of modern vehicles is premature,” he added.”