Preventing a “Fleet-wide” Hack is Tesla’s Top Security Priority

Preventing a “Fleet-wide” Hack is Tesla’s Top Security Priority

Elon Musk commented on Tesla’s cybsersecurity during his talk at the National Governor’s Association this weekend.

These days, the more connected a product is to the internet the more vulnerable to hacking it is. Musk has made it his business to ensure that the Tesla is the most connected vehicle on the road today.

That means Tesla’s are prime targets for whitehat hackers and security researchers to demonstrate possible vulnerabilities.

Over the weekend, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk gave a talk at the National Governor’s Association where he gave some comments on Tesla’s approach to cybersecurity including what the company’s top concerns are if the vehicles become fully autonomous.

“I think one of the biggest concerns for autonomous vehicles is somebody achieving a fleet-wide hack,” Musk said. ““If someone was able to say hack all the autonomous Teslas, they could say – I mean just as a prank – they could say ‘send them all to Rhode Island and that would be the end of Tesla and there would be a lot of angry people in Rhode Island.”

Musk continued to talk about how Tesla’s priority is to make a fleet-wide hack impossible. He spoke about including a way for people inside the car to have override authority no matter what the car is doing.

“You can press a button that no amount of software can override,” Musk said. “And ensure that you gain control of the vehicle and cut the link to the servers.”

Even within the car itself, the company has put in failsafe features to make sure that no one can mobile gain access to the power or braking system while the car is in motion.

“Within the car, there are multiple sub-systems that have specialized encryption, like the powertrain for example,” Musk said. “Even if someone gains access to the car, they cannot take control of the powertrain or braking system.”

Musk finished up his talk by adding cybersecurity is one of the company’s top priorities and that it should be for other companies as well.

Featured

  • The Future is Happening Outside the Cloud

    For years, the cloud has captivated the physical security industry. And for good reason. Remote access, elastic scalability and simplified maintenance reshaped how we think about deploying and managing systems. But as the number of cameras grows and resolutions push from HD to 4K and beyond, the cloud’s limits are becoming unavoidable. Bandwidth bottlenecks. Latency lags. Rising storage costs. These are not abstract concerns. Read Now

  • The Impact of Convergence Between IT and Physical Security

    For years, the worlds of physical security and information technology (IT) remained separate. While they shared common goals and interests, they often worked in silos. Read Now

  • Unlocking Trustworthy AI: Building Transparency in Security Governance

    In situations where AI supports important security tasks like leading investigations and detecting threats and anomalies, transparency is essential. When an incident occurs, investigators must trace the logic behind each automated response to confirm its validity or spot errors. Demanding interpretable AI turns opaque “black boxes” into accountable partners that enhance, rather than compromise, organizational defense. Read Now

  • Seeking Innovative Solutions

    Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. You may recognize these terms as the “5 Phases” of a grieving process, but they could easily describe the phases one goes through before adopting any new or emerging innovation or technology, especially in a highly risk-averse industry like security. However, the desire for convenience in all aspects of modern life is finally beginning to turn the tide from old school hardware as the go-to towards more user-friendly, yet still secure, door solutions. Read Now

  • Where AI Meets Human Judgment

    Artificial intelligence is everywhere these days. It is driving business growth, shaping consumer experiences, and showing up in places most of us never imagined just a few years ago. Read Now

New Products

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities