85% of consumers believe connected cars could be targeted by a cyberattack and nearly half do not plan to buy one in the future

The research, carried out by Dutch cybersecurity firm Irdeto, surveyed 8,354 consumers in Canada, China, Japan, the United Kingdom and United States, and found similarly low awareness across all regions; of all the results, 93% said they either didn’t own, or didn’t know if they owned, a connected car.

A total of 85% of respondents overall said they believe that any connected car has the potential to be targeted by a cyberattack, rising to 90% in Canada and the UK.

The research also found that 59% of current connected car owners are concerned that their vehicle could be targeted by a cyberattack and only 12% of respondents said they don’t have any cybersecurity concerns about buying an autonomous vehicle.

Jaco Du Plooy, vice president of Cloakware, Irdeto, said: “Protection of only the vehicle itself is not enough. The entire connected vehicle ecosystem must be protected, including securing V2X communications so that data transferred between the vehicle and devices is secure. This is especially the case with self-driving vehicles. It is critical to implement a proper security strategy that includes protection for telematics devices in order to future-proof vehicles from being exploited.”For more of the latest industry news, click here.