[cameldrv]

And what are we going to do for self-driving cars? These are almost certainly going to rely heavily on internet access to perform basic driving functions. Figuring out how to make complex systems like these be secure in a trustworthy way is going to be a huge challenge as more and more critical devices are connected to the Internet.

[leereeves]

No way a self driving car can rely on Internet access to "perform basic driving functions". Lag and connection failures would kill people.

They might need Internet access for updates, in which case, there should be a physical switch that connects the net and disables the engine.

[philipw]

An air gap is hardly a solution for traffic information the route planner HAS to talk to the computer responsible for getting from A to B. In the same way that firewalls are no longer particularly relevant, air gaps appear to be flawed now too, the only way to solve any security issue is better code quality..

[leereeves]

It's not perfect, but an air gap can help reduce the attack surface and interval.

Better code quality is important too, of course.

I agree with cameldrv that it's going to be a challenge.

[Animats]

"And what are we going to do for self-driving cars? These are almost certainly going to rely heavily on internet access to perform basic driving functions."

Actually, no. Google's Urmson has spoken at "connected vehicle" conferences and indicated they don't need car to car communication.

[uxp]

Agreed. The key word here is "basic". Maps have been and can be downloaded, and algorithms to get to point B from A have been embedded for a decade at least. It's only the newer devices (phones) that have managed to push that all server-side. Real-time data like traffic conditions or weather hazards can be added as supplementary data through secure channels, but the entire system does not require an internet connection to work.

Thinking that "basic driving functions" will need to rely _heavily_ on internet access is thinking wrongly.

[beat]

Which is the primary and most valid criticism of self-driving cars.