White House spotlights EV cybersecurity in climate push
The White House cyber team on Monday gathered private sector leaders for a discussion focused on how secure electric vehicles will be key to achieving the Biden administration’s climate goals.
The Office of the National Cyber Director held a meeting at the White House with EV industry executives, who talked about cybersecurity gaps in their organizations and gave recommendations on how to improve cyber standards across the industry.
Government officials also noted that building an EV ecosystem that is secure and resilient is crucial to achieving some of the administration’s climate policy objectives, which include increasing the production of electric vehicles to 50 percent by 2030.
The Infrastructure Law passed last year includes $7.5 billion for EV charging infrastructure, while the Inflation Reduction Act passed earlier this year included billions in tax credits for new and used EV purchases.
“All participants emphasized the need to accelerate construction and deployment of this critical infrastructure while ensuring that, as Americans increasingly rely on it, we are confident in its security and resilience,” said a readout from Monday’s meeting.
Participants said they will work to assess the current state of cybersecurity standards in the EV ecosystem and identify ways for both the public and private sectors to accelerate improvements.
Experts have warned that the shift to autonomous vehicles may pose greater cybersecurity risks as cars become increasingly connected to the internet to operate.
Although still hypothetical at this time, the experts said cyberattacks on autonomous vehicles are very much in the realm of possibility.
A poll conducted by two tech organizations found that more than 60 percent of U.S. consumers believe that cyberattacks targeting self-driving cars are “a big deal,” but also said that an attack should not prevent the use of autonomous vehicles.
The polling also found that nearly 40 percent of consumers believe that self-driving cars will be seen on roads regularly within the next five years.
Monday’s meeting is the latest gathering between government officials and private sector leaders to discuss the current cybersecurity landscape in critical sectors and ways to strengthen all parts of critical infrastructure.
At the last meeting, the leaders discussed cybersecurity in the healthcare and public health sector.
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