New cyber security standard for self-driving vehicles

The Government has published a new cyber security standard for self-driving vehicles.

The new guidance is designed to help protect self-driving cars from hacking – one of the principal concerns of many who oppose the technology.

The guidance has been developed by the DfT in partnership with academics, experts from businesses in the car industry – including Jaguar Land Rover, Ford and Bentley – and the National Cyber Security Centre.

It follows an earlier Government publication (Aug 2017) which set out key principles of cyber security for automated vehicles – including the expectation that systems should be designed to be resilient to attacks and respond appropriately if a vehicle’s defences fail.

The DfT says car manufacturers will be able to use the new standard to demonstrate that they are following these principles.