How to protect your car from getting hacked: Important tips

For a long time, we have learnt that keeping a car secure means hiding valuables, closing windows, locking doors, and turning on the theft alarm while parking it. However, with the advent of digitalisation and new technologies, especially connected cars, there is a new security threat that many car owners don't consider: hacking.

Just like anything and everything can be hacked in a digital world, a car too is vulnerable in front of hacking. The modern vehicles are equipped with a wide range of features powered by advanced and connected technologies. This essentially makes the modern cars giant moving computers. While autonomous driving vehicles come equipped with safety features such as adaptive cruise control, lane assist and automatic braking are particularly at greater risk of being hacked, any vehicles coming out of the factory are at risk of being hacked.

No wonder, vehicle hacking is a grave threat car owners face. While very few real-world hackers have set their sights on vehicles, most of the hacks done on vehicles so far have been completed by teams or researchers working to identify the vulnerabilities of modern vehicles. Here are some tips to follow to minimise the risk of your car being hacked.

Don't feed your home address into GPS

This may be convenient for you, but it will allow the hackers to find your home easily. Also, this way, if they can get into your car's system, they can get into your home as well. So, refrain from feeding the home address into the car's GPS.

Don't leave passwords in car

Hacking can be done physically as well. If someone enters your vehicle with some ill intention and finds a password left in the car, that person can access your account. Hence, don't leave any password in your car.

Limit wireless systems

Systems that allow you to disable functions of your vehicle or monitor it remotely could be tricky. While many systems come hard-wired, wireless or remote systems are often controlled online and most vulnerable to hacking. Hence, limit the wireless systems in your car as much as possible.

Don’t download untrusted apps in car’s system

Your car’s infotainment system is unprotected and often is the key to accessing your vehicle data for hackers. Downloading and using untrusted apps in the car's infotainment system can introduce malware to the vehicle's system. It is better not to use the car infotainment system's web browser. You can always do that using your smartphone.

Stay updated about vehicle recalls

Car manufacturers often recall their vehicles if they find any glitch in their respective vehicles' systems. They fix the glitches removing the vulnerabilities. So, always stay on top of such recall notifications.

Always update car infotainment system firmware

Updating a car infotainment system firmware is just like updating your phone or laptop to the latest operating system. These updates fix the glitches through patches and enhance security.

How to protect your car from getting hacked

Step 1 :

Don't feed home address into car's GPS

Step 2 :

Don't leave passwords in car

Step 3 :

Limit wireless systems

Step 4 :

Don't download or use untrusted apps on car infotainment system

Step 5 :

Stay updated about car recalls

Step 6 :

Always update car infotainment system firmware