Abusing the Internet of Things

Chapter 6. Connected Car Security Analysis—From Gas to Fully Electric

In 2014, a Sierra Leonean doctor in Nebraska and a Liberian visitor in Dallas, Texas, died of the deadly disease Ebola. This caused a media frenzy in the US and made a lot of citizens concerned about contracting the disease, even though one is more likely to die from one’s pajamas catching fire than from Ebola. Pajamas aside, we do have a tendency to underestimate and overestimate things that may kill us. Cancer and heart disease are known to be the leading causes of death, yet our attention often focuses on improbable scenarios such as dying in an airplane crash. The numbers speak otherwise: passengers have a 1 in 11 million chance of being killed in a plane crash. Yet our chances of being killed in a car crash are 1 in 5,000, and most of us get into a car on a daily basis without giving it a second thought.

Car accidents can be a result of distracted driving, speeding, drunk driving, bad weather, running red lights, car defects, unsafe lane changes, improper turns, tailgating, road rage, bad roads, tire blowouts, fog, or animal crossings. Most people reading this book either have been in a minor or major car accident or know someone who has.

Despite the risks posed by cars and driving, society gains tremendous benefits from people having personal transport vehicles. Individuals in cities and towns that lack a good public transport infrastructure depend on having a car to get to work and back home and to run ...