Dear Tesla: Security is Not a Retrofit

The bedrockof a good life is security. From infancy through school, at work, at home, inour vehicles, in our online activities – we all want both physical and virtualsecurity.

It wasrevealed last week that venerable automaker Tesla (you know, the one thatdesigned and manufactured the $59,000 – $100,000+ electric Model S) hadless-than-optimal security around the iOS app that lets Model S owners unlocktheir cars. The problem was an easily cracked password system that allowedpersistent hackers to both find and unlock the high-end cars.

If theluxury Tesla has weak password protocols, what might that say about what’s inplace in the less exotic vehicles driven by the rest of us?  What mightthat mean for drivers?

The Teslamishap is a microcosm of much larger technology security concerns. 

As the autoindustry moves closer to autonomous vehicles in the next several years, thesecurity of the multiple systems needed for driverless vehicles should be animperative. If someone hacks into a vehicle’s systems – more than just the locksystem like in the Tesla — what might the results be? Could a hacker remotelydisable the vehicle? Could someone with ill intent cause a car’s airbags todeploy while the vehicle is operating on the highway? 

These typesof security concerns are certainly not unique to automakers. Our lives areincreasingly touched by automation and connectivity in our homes, at work –everywhere. Security must be the bedrock rather than an afterthought. Technologies exist today that remove the vulnerabilities by eliminating singlepoints of failure.

Let’s not bethose people who install alarm systems after being burglarized. That’s securityas a retrofit, and it’s simply not practical in our increasingly connectedworld. 

About Mayukh Gon

Mayukh is the Founder and CEO of PerfectCloud, aninnovative cloud company that specializes in providing Identity as a Service(IaaS), single sign-on and data encryption for businesses. Mayukh has over 17years of experience working in the technology industry, specificallymiddle-ware technologies, software development and identity and accessmanagement. He has worked with start-ups, such as Vocollect, SmartOps andSurePay. He has also consulted for Fortune 500 companies, such as TD Bank, RBC,ING and IBM.