When it comes to hacking it is very much open field in terms of devices which depend on electronic connectivity. Something which has been raised recently as a great concern, is the possibility of an electric scooter being hacked during use. We have already seen a number of accents involving these scooters and a Washington DC scooter accident attorney has recently been looking into the possibility of a malfunction caused by a hack. We know that hacking these kinds of devices is possible, and if scooter companies don’t pay enough attention to their security measures, here are the dangers which we will see.
Suddenly Stopping
One of the main dangers which we will see if one of these vehicles is hacked, or even falls prey to an attempted hack, is that they will suddenly stop. Now if a user is stationary this of course won’t cause any real issue, but if they are on the move then this could easily result in an accident or collision with another motor vehicle. Researchers from electric scooter company Zimperium has found that even the attempt of a Denial of Service attack could result in a scooter coming to a sharp stop.
Targeted Attacks
In terms of why someone would target these scooters randomly, the answer is that other than mischief, this is not something which is likely to happen. What we are bound to see however are targeted attacks on a particular individual who is using a scooter.
Taking Control
Whilst a Denial of Service hack may cause a great risk to the user of the scooter, the bigger risk is if malware is then installed on the scooter’s software. If this were to be the case then we could in fact see someone take control of the scooter, which of course is going to have even more damaging consequences. This is the worst case scenario but those companies which offer scooter rental have to consider these potential risks.
Need for Security and Updates
Sadly when it comes to cybersecurity most of the work which software developers are doing is reactive, but when it comes to the clear risks which a scooter hack poses, they have to be on the front foot. What this is going to mean for companies is that they have a high level security team in place or that they rely on a software developer which delivers the very highest level of cybersecurity. Not only this however, regular updates are also going to be required in order to defend best against ever-evolving hackers.
Now for most people this is not something that they should worry about when they look to rent a scooter, but what is important is that the scooter companies themselves are actually aware of the dangers which are present if a cyberattack takes place. It is imperative that they are always one step ahead of the game in this regard.
