Lawmakers call for cyber security standards on self-driving cars
Mikko Hypponen, a Finnish security expert, has announced that he fully expects hackers to attack self-driving vehicle software, and then demand owners pay a ransom to release it, to become a common occurrence as autonomous cars become more widely used. Already, a pair of hackers caused a Jeep to crash in July 2015 by accessing some of the car’s software through a poorly protected entertainment system. Hypponen’s warning comes as multiple security experts warned a Senate Commerce Committee yesterday about the issue of cybersecurity in autonomous vehicles, with lawmakers calling for national, minimum cyber security standards on all autonomous vehicles. Finally, Hypponen also warned that a terror group such as ISIS could use a self-driving car to deliver a bomb.

Hackers will take over vehicles, demand money for owner to regain control

It is expected the most common attacks will take the form of ransomware

Hacking of self-driving cars will definitely happen, security experts say

First it was our computers, then it was our phones, and now experts have warned hackers will soon be targeting our cars.

Self-driving car technology is improving so quickly that some experts believe it will be mainstream within the next five years, meaning hacking will be probably become a problem.

A security expert has told MailOnline that cyber criminals may take control of a car and hold it ransom to extort money from owners.

'There's no question whether autonomous cars can be hacked or not,' Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer of cyber security firm F-secure told MailOnline. A stock image of a cyber criminal is pictured

The Insurance Information Institute estimates that by 2030, 25 per cent of all cars sold will be autonomous.

At the end of last year, Elon Musk told Fortune that Tesla Motors is two years away from achieving a fully autonomous self-driving car.

As this technology becomes more prevalent, the threat of attacks from hackers will grow, according to experts.

A version of Google's prototype of a self-driving car at an undisclosed location pictured in 2014. Google's self-driving car is one of the possible autonomous vehicles that might be exposed to threats from hackers

'There's no question whether autonomous cars can be hacked or not,' Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer of Finish cyber security firm F-secure told MailOnline. 'Nothing is perfectly secure.'

'It really becomes more of a question on why somebody would do it,' he said.

'What is the motive? What are they getting out of it?

'Stealing cars or locking the user out of his own car until he pays a ransom are examples of potential financial motives.'

WHAT IS RANSOMWARE? 2015 saw a decrease in detections of police-themed ransomware but others types used by cyber criminals (stock image) gained ground Ransomware is a type of malware that restricts access to the infected computer system in some way and demands that the user pay a ransom to the operators to get rid of the restriction. It started off in Russia but quickly spread across the world. 'Ransomware was a popular payload for many of the most prevalent exploit kits detected in 2015, and has become an effective tool to extort money from both organizations and individuals,' according to F-secure's 2015 threat report. 'Ransomware families' are designed to extort victims by locking them out of their devices and data until theypay a fee to the attackers. Different families employ different approaches to locking users out of their devices. However, they can all typically be classified as either 'police-themed ransomware' or 'cryptoransomware.' Police-themed ransomware stops users from accessing their devices by claiming the owner has broken some type of law and needs to pay a fine to use the infected device. Crypto-ransomware relies on encrypting the contents found on a device, essentially preventing users from accessing the device or contents until a ransom is paid for the decryption keys. 'While 2015 saw a decrease in detections of police-themed ransomware, several families of crypto-ransomware rose in popularity, essentially maintaining the overall threat posed by ransomware.'

Locking a user out of their car until a ransom is paid is not a new concept.

Ransomware is a type of malware that restricts access to the infected computer system in some way and demands that the user pay a ransom to the malware operators to remove the restriction.

It started off in Russia but quickly spread across the world.

'Ransomware was a popular payload for many of the most prevalent exploit kits detected in 2015, and has become an effective tool to extort money from both organisations and individuals,' according to F-secure's 2015 threat report.

'Ransomware families' are designed to extort victims by locking them out of their devices and data until they pay a fee to the attackers.

Different families employ different approaches to locking users out of their devices. However, they can all typically be classified as either 'police-themed ransomware' or 'cryptoransomware.'

Police-themed ransomware stops users from accessing their devices by claiming the owner has broken some type of law and needs to pay a fine to use the infected device.

Crypto-ransomware relies on encrypting the contents found on a device, essentially preventing users from accessing the device or contents until a ransom is paid for the decryption keys.

'While 2015 saw a decrease in detections of police-themed ransomware, several families of crypto-ransomware rose in popularity, essentially maintaining the overall threat posed by ransomware.'

Ransomware (illustrated) is a type of malware that restricts access to the infected computer system in some way and demands that the user pay a ransom to the malware operators to remove the restriction. This is the kind of threat that would be most likely to affect self-driving cars, according to Mr Hypponen

THE SEVEN TYPES OF HACKERS According to security software developer McAfee, there are seven types of hackers. The 'black hat' hackers are the ones that are most likely to be hacking into autonomous cars. The good 'white hat 'hackers are computer security experts who break security so that a weakness can be found, fixed and improved, to make sure a company's information is secure. 'Black hat' hackers are bad guys, who are generally motivated to get paid. 'Script kiddies' are a type of black hat hackers who use borrowed programs to deface websites just to make a name for themselves. 'Hacktivists' are motivated by political or religious reasons, or to expose wrongdoing or exact revenge. 'State sponsored hackers' are employed by governments around the globe. 'State sponsored hackers have limitless time and funding to target civilians, corporations, and governments,' according to a blog post by Robert Siciliano, online safety expert for Intel Security. Corporations hire 'spy hackers' to infiltrate the competition and steal trade secrets. 'Cyber terrorists' are generally motivated by religious or political beliefs and they attempt to create fear and chaos by disrupting critical infrastructures.'

This is the kind of threat that would be most likely to affect self-driving cars, according to Mr Hypponen.

'I'm not too worried about hackers who would try to hurt people by causing car accidents,' he said.

'In general, hackers are not interested in killing random people. It's also illegal to kill random people.'

Hacking is a new threat that car companies are beginning to have to deal with.

'Legacy car companies have lots of expertise in safety engineering, but quite little experience in software security engineering,' Mr Hypponen said.

But he said companies are starting to take notice of the threat and are trying to develop solutions.

'The good news is all car companies, including those that are developing self-driving cars, take this now very seriously.'

He said they realised hacking could be a real problem, last year.

According to security software developer McAfee, there are seven types of hackers.

And the 'black hat' hackers - bad guys - who are generally motivated to get paid, are the ones that are most likely to be hacking into autonomous cars.

'Whenever new technology is developed, hackers are fast to react - identifying vulnerabilities and potential avenues for attack,' Raj Samani, CTO EMEA Intel Security told MailOnline.

'The potential to hack and gain control of connected cars is a very real threat.

'Now that the vulnerabilities of connected cars have been identified, it is just a matter of time before attackers find a means to use this as an opportunity to fulfil one of these motives.

'We developed the Automotive Security Review Board (ASRB) - a collaboration of top security and automotive industry talent from across the globe - who work together to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals and secure vulnerabilities before hackers have the opportunity to turn this potential risk into a dangerous reality.'

The safety of autonomous cars from a safety engineering point of view remains at the front of people's minds, as companies continue to make changes to improve their systems.

A Google self-driving car struck a municipal bus in Mountain View, California, in a minor crash on 14 February.

The search engine said it bears 'some responsibility' for the incident in what may be the first crash that was the fault of the self-driving vehicle.

It was the first time in several years of testing on public roads that a Google self-driving car prototype caused a crash.

Last week, the top US auto safety regulator said the agency is seeking additional details of a recent crash of an Alphabet Google self-driving car in California.

Footage recorded by cameras on the bus shows a Lexus SUV, which Google has outfitted with sensors and cameras that let it drive itself, edging into the path of the bus that was rolling by at about 15 mph (24km/h).

Footage recorded by cameras on a bus shows the Lexus SUV, which Google has outfitted with sensors and cameras that let it drive itself, edging into the path of the bus that was rolling by at about 15 mph. Here, it can be seen on the right of the image, next to the kerb

Footage taken from the bus that was hit by a Google self-driving SUV, shows the passengers' reactions