Toyota organizes a car-hacking event that captivates participating students. We uncovered the important purpose behind the event.
What comes to mind when you hear the word “hacking?”
Generally, it means “an act of unauthorized access into a system or network, intended to cause harm.”
In films and comics, hackers are often portrayed as criminals.
You may have watched scenes where such hackers tap away on keyboards as lines of numbers and symbols fill the computer screen to steal data and hijack machines.
How, then, would you feel about Toyota holding a car-hacking event?
Not just in Japan
Many students have gathered in a conference room. All are engrossed in a unique competition unfolding on their computer screens.
The event is Hack Festa*, a chance for IT students to pit their hacking skills against each other.
*Jointly organized by Toyota, Toyota Motor North America, Inc., and Toyota Tsusho Systems US, Inc.
The students form groups of around four and tackle the assigned tasks as a team. All of the challenges are car-related, ranging from controlling a vehicle’s speed adjustment mechanism to overwriting engine RPMs.
Their efforts are tested on simulators, earning points for every task cleared. The team with the highest score wins.
Aside from Japan, the events are also held in the United States and Ireland.
Why is Toyota hosting such events? Isn’t hacking harmful?
When we posed these questions to the event producer, Hisashi Oguma, a project general manager at InfoTech-IS, explained that we first had to understand the challenges facing the auto industry.
With convenience comes new threats
Hisashi Oguma, Ph.D., Project General Manager/Principal Researcher, InfoTech-IS
Today, cars are evolving in unprecedented ways through internet connectivity, with automated driving and connected cars as obvious examples.
Another concept that has emerged recently is the SDV (Software Defined Vehicle). Simply put, it involves updating the onboard software after purchase, continuing to expand the car’s functionality as you would a smartphone.
Internet integration improves convenience. At the same time, it also makes it easier for malicious third parties to hack car systems.
The cybersecurity that protects customers from such harm has become more important than ever, not only for Toyota but for the entire auto industry.
In serious cases, a hacked car could mean a loss of control over its basic functions of driving, turning, and stopping.
As an example, the video below shows a simulation of what might happen if steering wheel control is compromised while driving.
Would you be able to keep your cool if this happened in real life?
Oguma’s division researches ways to prevent such harm. It organizes the Hack Festa to help counter potential threats.
A hacking event to boost cybersecurity. It sounds contradictory, but what on earth does it mean?