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Connected cars are great, until they’re not. A recent Detroit Free Press article shows that vehicle hacks are more common and more dangerous that most people realize.There were at least 150 automotive cybersecurity incidents in 2019, part of a 94 percent year-over-year increase since 2016, according to a report from Upstream Security.Oh, and here’s a phrase we’re loath to see, even though we’re likely to come across it plenty more in the future: ransomware for cars.It is impossible to remotely hack into an unconnected car. But if you’re not driving the latest vehicle from Tautology Motors, your vehicle is likely at risk from some sort of digital intrusion. In fact, almost every car on the road today, if it can connect, can be hacked to some degree.That’s the opinion of Moshe Shlisel, the CEO and cofounder of GuardKnox Cyber Technologies, a company that focuses on protecting vehicles from just these kinds of attacks.”The more sophisticated the system is, the more connected your vehicle is, the more exposed you are,” Shlisel told the Detroit Free Press. “We have taken whatever model [car] you think of and we hack them through various places. I can control your steering, I can shut down and [start] your engine, control your brakes, your doors, your wipers, open and close your trunk.”

Shlisel isn’t the only one trying to predict and prevent hacking threats. Upstream Security put out its annual Global Automotive Cybersecurity Report that lists the top cyber incidents of 2020. These included a hacker gaining control over “Tesla’s entire connected vehicle fleet by exploiting a vulnerability in the OEM’s server-side mechanism” and hackers taking “full control of an OEM’s corporate network by reverse-engineering a vehicle’s [telematics control unit] and using the telematics connection to infiltrate the network.”The Free Press cited Upstream’s report, which said there was a 99 percent increase in cybersecurity incidents (to 150) in 2019 and a 94 percent year-over-year increase since 2016. With more communication methods being built into new vehicles, including massive over-the-air update technologies, this trend is unlikely to reverse any time soon.Ransomware for Cars Is ComingAll of these attacks mean automakers have to take a proactive stance in this fight. Part of the automakers’ defense strategy is to ask “white hat” ethical hackers to show them where the cars are vulnerable in exchange for monetary rewards or, in some cases, jobs. The famous hacker duo who took control of a Jeep Cherokee back in 2015 now work for Cruise, the autonomous-vehicle subsidiary of General Motors. Michael Dick, CEO of C2A Security, an Israel-based automotive cybersecurity company, told the Free Press he expects the current trend of hackers holding digital data on computers for ransom to move to cars at some point. When this happens, driver will not be able to start their vehicle until they pay off the hacker or suffer the consequences. “There’s no way around it,” he said. “You’ll have to get it towed and get all new software to start it.”For some transportation companies, ransomware attacks have already happened. Upstream Security’s report mentions a ransomware attack on the Australian transportation company Toll Group, which affected 1000 servers and 40,000 employees. And Honda was forced to stop production in June 2020 due to ransomware attacks on plants in Europe and Japan.Upstream Security recommends three ways automakers can build secure vehicles, and they’re all complicated. First, security has to be part of the design of every component. Second, there needs to be a multi-layered cybersecurity solution that involves in-vehicle, IT network, and cloud security defenses. Third, automakers need to develop vehicle security operations centers “to monitor, detect, and quickly respond to cyber incidents to protect vehicles, services, fleets, and road users.” How well the auto industry builds up these defenses will define how much drivers love their connected cars as the risks are better understood.
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Toyota started this year’s Tokyo Olympics on the wrong foot, when anger from Japanese citizens that the games were going forward amid the pandemic led the carmaker and Olympic partner to suspend its planned Olympics-related advertising in Japan. And now there’s a bookend stumble for the end of Toyota’s games: an autonomous shuttle operating in the Olympic Village during the Paralympic games collided with and injured a visually impaired athlete last week. Toyota briefly paused the shuttle rides, but then restarted them with extra safety workers on hand to prevent repeat incidents. This Week in SheetmetalAudi showed an elongated, nearly teardrop-shaped electric sedan concept, also designed to showcase the possibilities of future autonomous driving technologies. The car, called the Grandsphere, would have 711 horsepower from two electric motors, a retractable steering wheel, and a potted plant sprouting out of the back of the center console.[image id=’c5567094-68b7-478f-a3ad-446c92ad5292′ mediaId=’0b3332cd-abd8-4a15-8b2b-a2587f6d8e1f’ align=’right’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’original’][/image]Winnebago has designed a wheelchair-accessible RV based on a Ram ProMaster van. The RV, called Roam, is smaller than previous accessible RVs the company has built and can have a power-operated sofa bed, wheelchair tie-downs, grab handles in the shower, and an under-vehicle wheelchair lift. Mercedes has provided more information on the next AMG GT63, scheduled to be the first plug-in hybrid from Mercedes’ performance sub-brand. The 2023 GT63 will have a combined 831 hp from a 4.0-liter V-8 and an electric motor on the rear axle. 2023 will mark the return of the Mercedes V-8 to the U.S. market. The company dropped eight-cylinder engines from almost all of its U.S. lineup for 2022 due to supply chain constraints. Subaru shared some new (miniature, upside-down) teaser photos of its forthcoming inaugural EV, the Solterra. The car will come with standard all-wheel drive, as is appropriate for a Subaru, and will share its platform with the Toyota bZ4X. We expect it to go on sale next year.[image id=’8d371da3-d246-4dfb-b51d-e45cf1c9c94a’ mediaId=’0c645f4c-49c8-4f42-862e-005232614c4f’ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’original’][/image]Microchip Shortage, StillSeveral automakers adjusted their third-quarter sales projections downward this week, as the ongoing microchip shortage limits production below demand. Ford said its August sales were down 33 percent due to the chip shortage. Mercedes said its third-quarter results would be “noticeably below” second-quarter sales. Volvo said its sales were down 10.6 percent compared to last August, and said it expecte slow sales through the second half of the year. General Motors announced more plant shutdowns, and a Bloomberg report said Tesla had to idle its plants in China for several days last month because of the chip shortage. Meanwhile, Hyundai is looking for its own way through the storm. The company says it has developed its own microchip for use in a vehicle that will launch in the second quarter of next year, perhaps the Ioniq 6 EV. Hyundai will use local (to Korea) suppliers to manufacture the chip and hopes this strategy will reduce competition and uncertainty related to microchip sourcing. Wear Your Seatbelt[editoriallinks id=’0e020265-3007-4f1b-8278-18b39d041711′ align=’left’][/editoriallinks]The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports a 10.5 percent increase in traffic deaths in the first three months of 2021 compared to the first three months of 2020, despite a 2.1 percent decrease in the number of vehicle miles travelled compared to last year. NHTSA attributes the increase in fatalities to a rise in risky behaviors such as speeding, impaired driving, and not wearing seatbelts. Traffic-related deaths were up 7.2 percent to 38,680 in the U.S. overall in 2020, even though Americans drove 13 percent fewer miles than in 2019. NHTSA blamed that increase on risky behavior by drivers enjoying empty roads during lockdowns, or drivers who thought police would not stop and ticket them during the height of the pandemic. A representative for the self-driving coalition said the NHTSA report was evidence of the urgent need for self-driving cars, which “do not speed, become impaired, or get distracted,” but since truly autonomous driving technology doesn’t exist yet, we’ll stick with more old-fashioned advice: wear your seatbelt, and always remember that cars can kill you.Further ReadingRemember when North Carolinians raised a stink about an increasingly popular car modification dubbed the Carolina Squat? Well, now the Squat is illegal (more or less). Read in the New York Times about the various, sometimes destructive, strategies companies are taking to extract lithium, a crucial element in electric-vehicle manufacturing, from the earth.Or read about the unlikely second life of a 1970 AMC AMX in the Wall Street Journal.

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Associate news editor Caleb Miller is new to the Car and Driver family, so when his 2000 Mercedes-Benz S430’s Airmatic suspension unceremoniously collapsed, he thought it’d be a good idea to ask the Window Shop crew to help him find a replacement. Miller set a $7000 budget and asked that we consider something fun and reliable. In the interest of saving the manuals, something with a clutch pedal would be nice, too. After the team stopped trying to convince Miller to just drive the S-class and tell people it’s stanced, we showed him what we found on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace in his price range. It turns out many of us have perverted definitions of fun and reliable.Senior editor Elana Scherr selects a very long and low-mileage Lincoln Town Car with Ford’s 4.6-liter SOHC V-8. We remark on the Modular V-8 and get pulled into the opera window on the C-pillar, and we argue about whether or not the Town Car got BBS wheels. Miller doesn’t seem impressed, so we let contributor Jonathon Ramsey take over. Ramsey finds a 2006 Jaguar XJ8 L that has enough leather and wood to comfort anyone coming off an S-class. The reliability of the retro-styled all-aluminum Jaguar comes into question, but then we get distracted by deputy testing director K.C. Colwell’s lesson on the leaper and the growler. Colwell takes over the screen after Ramsey and shows us that he took the challenge seriously when he shares his 1999 BMW 528i manual with the sport package. The turbine-style 32 wheels are from a 540i with the sport package, the car looks clean, and the E39 5-series brings up a lot of fond memories like Road & Track editor John Pearley Huffman’s story of a close friend whose E39 caught fire in a driveway.Pearley’s choice won’t surprise any regular viewers. The 2002 Toyota Tundra promises years of trouble-free service. The group can’t deny its reputation for reliability or the appeal of the five-speed manual, but the bare-bones regular-cab truck lacks S-class luxuries, like carpet. Finally, deputy editor Tony Quiroga takes over and shows off a cream-colored 1978 Lincoln Continental that no one appreciates, especially Miller. As usual, the episode jumps the rails and the discussion goes off subject. Watch until the end to watch some ’70s classics diving their way through panic stops.

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