For all parties involved, the rapid development of intelligent connected vehicles is undoubtedly of great significance. At the transportation level, the intelligentization and connectivity of vehicles can effectively alleviate traffic congestion and solve various road traffic problems. Meanwhile, at the enterprise and user levels, the former can achieve development and upgrading through intelligent connected vehicles, opening up a broader market; while the latter can also leverage the vehicle-road-human interaction brought about by intelligent connected vehicles to obtain a completely new travel service experience.
However, while intelligent connected vehicles possess significant value and promising prospects, their development still faces certain challenges at present. Due to deficiencies in technology, standards, and regulations, intelligent connected vehicles currently face three major security risks: technological security risks, cybersecurity risks, and privacy security risks. These three security risks severely hinder the commercialization and large-scale adoption of the industry. Let's discuss these in more detail below.
I. Technical Security Risks
As we all know, intelligent connected vehicles are a new generation of cars capable of intelligent information interaction between vehicles, roads, and people. They possess functions such as complex environment perception, intelligent decision-making, and collaborative control, and can achieve safe, efficient, comfortable, and energy-saving driving, bringing people an unprecedented travel experience. However, all of this is based on technological support. If the technology is insufficient or inadequate, it can easily lead to certain hidden dangers.
Currently, intelligent connected vehicles suffer from several technological shortcomings. On the one hand, autonomous driving technology is not advanced enough to achieve fully autonomous driving; on the other hand, the power batteries of intelligent connected vehicles, as the main power source, also have multiple problems related to performance, stability, and lifespan. These two aspects together lead to a lack of safety in intelligent connected vehicles. In recent years, news of intelligent connected vehicles spontaneously combusting and undergoing test crashes has frequently appeared in the media.
Therefore, to address the security risks posed by insufficient technology, breakthroughs are needed from a technological perspective. For enterprises, this means further refining their technologies, strengthening security testing, and ensuring the quality and usability of their products. For the industry, it requires accelerating joint efforts in tackling key technologies and establishing a set of industry product safety standards. Furthermore, the government should increase its support for creating a suitable testing environment for intelligent connected vehicles and provide related favorable incentives.
II. Cybersecurity Risks
Intelligent connected vehicles are products integrating various hardware and software devices and modern intelligent technologies, making them highly dependent on network communication technologies. In recent years, the rapid development of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and 5G has greatly propelled the advancement of intelligent connected vehicles, but it has also given rise to various cybersecurity issues. Taking 5G networks as an example, while it makes connections between vehicles, roads, and people faster, it also makes cyberattacks easier.
For intelligent connected vehicles, the consequences of a cyberattack are unimaginable. Lesser impacts might include data theft and damage to the privacy and property of businesses or users. Greater consequences could include vehicles being hijacked by hackers, leading to serious consequences or criminal activities. In short, preventing intelligent technology from becoming an accomplice in creating cybersecurity risks for intelligent vehicles has become a crucial issue that companies in the industry must consider and guard against.
Therefore, to avoid cybersecurity threats to intelligent connected vehicles, it is necessary to address both the product itself and related technologies. On the product side, manufacturers must equip their products with features capable of withstanding network attacks, protecting the system from unauthorized network control and data theft. Simultaneously, on the technological side, companies must strengthen the patching and protection against technical vulnerabilities, not only preventing technology from becoming a breakthrough point but also leveraging technology for protection.
III. Privacy and Security Risks
The development of intelligent and connected vehicles naturally generates and produces massive amounts of data. If this data is not properly protected and stored, and is stolen and misused by internal or external parties, it will pose privacy and security risks, harming users. Recently, Tesla has been in the spotlight for using in-car cameras to monitor owners and arbitrarily deleting their driving data, highlighting the current trend of companies abusing user data and disregarding privacy.
Therefore, in addition to strictly preventing external network intrusions, internal corporate governance is also crucial for solving data privacy and security issues. This requires companies to make efforts themselves, establish correct values, proactively assume responsibility, and strengthen data protection and storage while avoiding data misuse. On the other hand, it also requires the government to introduce relevant policies and strengthen the supervision of industry enterprises. By constructing a legal framework, the data privacy and security of intelligent connected vehicles can be guaranteed.
