Even cars are no longer safe from hacking

1. When your car goes on strike
   I'm really in a hurry today because I have a job interview. I want to start the engine and set off, but nothing happens. Instead, I see words on the cockpit display. When I read the text, my heart starts racing: "Do you want your car to drive again? Then you'd better pay ..."
2. Ghost voice from the navigation device
   On the way to work, I'm sitting in my car, stuck in traffic. Suddenly the navigation device switches on, but the friendly voice doesn't want to divert me, but informs me that the vehicle has been hacked and is now being shut down.
3. My car has gone crazy
   For once, I have an empty freeway in front of me. I drive at over 100 kilometers per hour when suddenly the hazard warning lights switch on and all windows shut down. Excitedly I steer to the hard shoulder and swear: Has my car gone crazy? A text in the display of my navigation system lights up: "YOU HAVE BEEN HACKED!"

These stories no longer belong in the realm of James Bond films and science fiction novels, but are already technically possible and quite conceivable.

Gone are the days when a bit of technical wisdom and a wrench could be used to repair just about anything on a car. Today, motor vehicles are rolling computers – an enormous number of functions are controlled electronically. In addition, they are usually networked, which we usually forget in everyday life. Who is actually aware that the GPS receives congestion information in real time from somewhere, that the hands-free system only works because the car's software accesses the mobile phone via Bluetooth, or that the eCall accident assistance system can locate the vehicle at any time?

This networking makes the vehicles vulnerable. And the more intensively they are digitally upgraded and connected to networks, the more ways hackers have to attack. Their motivation could be to steal cars by manipulating the access system. It is also conceivable that they could paralyze the car's software and extort a ransom payment. "It becomes really interesting when cyber criminals use this opportunity to block important private data of the owner," comments Patrick Brielmayer, IT security expert and former hacker.

Recently, security experts discovered vulnerabilities in the IT of a well-known car brand and gained access to the vehicles. "I am convinced that it is only a matter of time before ransom demands are formulated," says Philip Herger, Head of Motor Vehicle Product Management at Zurich Switzerland. "Although car manufacturers are constantly upgrading, hackers are constantly finding new security vulnerabilities, just like with computers and cell phones. However, we want to protect our customers from the consequences of this new danger in the best possible way and with foresight."