[SystemSafety] FWD: NY Times on App Developers for cars

[Patrick Graydon]

While people on this list have been discussing who should write critical software, the New York Times is telling its readers who will be building the next generation of vehicle software:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/01/technology/detroit-embracing-new-auto-technologies-seeks-app-builders.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&adxnnl=1&hpw&adxnnlx=1372738255-4RXY927aACXFF/QS9iSfAQ

Even when these ‘apps’ are not intended to provide safety-related services, they are running on computers that are networked to the vehicle’s control computers and sometimes even have a cellular data connection.  (The security community has already pointed out some of the resulting dangers [1].)  Moreover, they are designed to control hardware – displays and loudspeakers – that could distract the driver.  While it does discuss the ‘cool’ factor and space for ping-pong in the development labs, the NYT does not comment on how GM ensures that this software does not impose undue risk on motorists or how it ensures that its new programmers are up to the job.  Details, details.

— Patrick

[1]  Stephen Checkoway, Damon Mccoy, Brian Kantor, Danny Anderson, Hovav Shacham, Stefan Savage, Karl Koscher, Alexei Czeskis, Franziska Roesner, and Tadayoshi Kohno. Comprehensive experimental analyses of automotive attack surfaces. In Proceedings of the 20th USENIX Security Sym- posium, August 2011. Available from: http://www.autosec.org/pubs/ cars-usenixsec2011.pdf.

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