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- New report says ‘UK public remains unaware of data security risks’
The public should be aware of the data security risk posed by Chinese electric vehicles, a new report warns.
The China Strategic Risk Institute report also warns the Government of the need to ‘effectively mitigate’ the national security risk they pose.
This follows news that the United States plans to ban certain Chinese hardware and software in electric and fuel cars due to safety risks.
A new report from the China Strategic Risk Institute warns that the public is not aware of the data security risk posed by Chinese electric vehicles.
The China Strategic Risk Institute has said that “the UK public remains largely unaware of the data dependency, disruption and security risks posed by Chinese electric vehicles.”
He says that “electric vehicles are essentially computers on wheels” and the problem lies in the fact that “the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) governing the privacy of computing services was not created with the geopolitical challenges of mining , exploitation and appropriation of data by states”. considered “systemic rivals in mind.”
According to the CSRI, CIMs “present key vulnerabilities that allow a car’s functionalities to be modified or disrupted by its own manufacturer or other actors.”
Because CIMs enable smart features in modern vehicles, a car can collect data and analyze it, allowing manufacturers to have control of the CIM.
Third parties could also abuse the connection, the report warns.
With electric vehicles in particular, the CRSI is concerned that an “influx of Chinese-made electric vehicles, heavily equipped with Chinese-made CIMs” will allow a lot of data to be collected for surveillance purposes and not be exploitable. “dependence” on the People’s Republic of China.
While electric vehicles are highlighted, the CSRI notes that it is not just about electric vehicles, as CIMs enable these smart features “in modern vehicles, regardless of engine type.”
In late September, the United States proposed a ban on Chinese car technology, which has now entered a comment period.
The ban would cover both hardware and software and would be the toughest protectionist measure yet to defend American automotive against cheap Chinese electric vehicles flooding the market.
The Biden administration has already imposed 100 percent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and the $7,500 consumer EV subsidy will not be available for any vehicles with components made in China.
While little Chinese- or Russian-made software is currently used in American cars, the proposed ban is part of “targeted proactive measures” to protect the United States, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said.
In late September, the United States proposed a ban on Chinese car technology, which has now entered a comment period.
In a statement, he said: ‘Today’s cars have cameras, microphones, GPS tracking and other technologies connected to the Internet.
“It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how a foreign adversary with access to this information could pose a serious risk to both our national security and the privacy of American citizens.”
Software manufactured in 2026, for model year 2027 vehicles, and hardware for model year 2030 onwards would be banned.
Ahead of the announcement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said: “China opposes the US generalization of the concept of national security and discriminatory practices against Chinese companies and products.”
Examples of data security threats
In The threat to infrastructure from Chinese cellular modules (IoT) (CIM) In a Secure Technology Coalition article, Charles Parton OBE writes that if Chinese CIM manufacturers get a monopoly, they could “get data from phones synced with car infotainment centers (British security services found that the data of the Prime Minister’s car were being sent to China via a Chinese CIM)’ and ‘obtaining speeches and films from inside private cars (Tesla engineers were fired for doing precisely this)’.
