Skip to main content

Automakers, US DOT agree on cybersecurity

The US Transportation Department and 17 automakers have reached agreement on efforts to enhance safety, including sharing information to thwart cyber-attacks on their increasingly wired vehicles, says Bloomberg. Companies including General Motors, Ford and Toyota also agreed to reform the way they report fatalities, injuries and warranty claims to the government. The companies are to meet regularly to exchange information and identify emerging safety issues. “Today DOT and the automakers represented h
January 19, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The US Transportation Department and 17 automakers have reached agreement on efforts to enhance safety, including sharing information to thwart cyber-attacks on their increasingly wired vehicles, says Bloomberg.

Companies including 948 General Motors, 278 Ford and 1686 Toyota also agreed to reform the way they report fatalities, injuries and warranty claims to the government. The companies are to meet regularly to exchange information and identify emerging safety issues.

“Today DOT and the automakers represented here are taking a strong stance in favour of a new approach, an approach that leans heavily on being proactive and less heavily on being reactive,” US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in Detroit Friday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Company executives, including General Motors chief executive officer Mary Barra and 1674 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles chief executive officer Sergio Marchionne had met with Foxx in Washington in December. The transportation secretary asked the companies to come up with voluntary measures they could agree to outside the traditional regulatory framework.

The companies and regulators have agreed to suggest best practices on cybersecurity, share lessons learned and find ways to engage researchers to identify emerging threats. They will work with the information sharing and analysis centre established by the auto industry last year.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • How safe are smart motorways?
    March 3, 2020
    A valiant attempt to ease the UK’s congested strategic road system? Or an idea that should never have seen the light of day? Alan Dron reports on the controversy over smart motorways...
  • ITF’s three-point plan to reduce road deaths
    May 24, 2018
    A three-point plan to help countries reduce road deaths and serious injuries has been unveiled at the International Transport Forum (ITF) in Leipzig, Germany. The keynote address by Prince Michael of Kent, a member of the UK’s royal family, was presented to transport ministers at a summit focused on transport safety and security. Outside of the ITF, Prince Michael is known for establishing an award scheme that recognises innovation in road safety worldwide.
  • Esri maps cause and effect
    September 26, 2024
    The work of the Connecticut Transportation Safety Research Center means engineers can concentrate on developing more effective safety measures, rather than having to sort out raw crash data
  • American Traffic Solutions
    March 16, 2012
    The City of Edmonton in the Alberta province of western Canada has a system in place which American Traffic Solutions (ATS) believes exemplifies how a road safety camera programme should be operated. Edmonton’s programme began in September 1999 with six cameras rotating through 12 locations. Nearly 10 years later, at the beginning of 2009, provincial legislation was passed allowing police agencies in Alberta to use road safety cameras to enforce both red light and speed infractions.