The consumer magazine Which? has found that best-selling Ford and VW cars can easily be hacked, putting motorists’ personal data and even safety at risk.
Working with Context Information Security on testing the latest versions of the Ford Focus Titanium and Volkswagen Polo, it found things like traction control and collision warning systems could be tampered with, and personal data from the infotainment system was easily accessible.
Which? says it’s concerned that the risk, both financial and to human life, is significant if the serious security vulnerabilities that were found are left unchecked. “While there are stringent regulations and standards for car crash safety and exhaust emissions, the same scrutiny isn’t applied to the vital computer systems that run people’s cars,” it says.
