The biggest car manufacturer in the United States takes a step in the direction of safety, as GM's cybersecurity is now protected by a new position in the General Motors team: GM's cybersecurity chief, a new job that will now be held by former manager Jeff Massimilla.
GM's cybersecurity concerns comes as a preventive measure, as now vehicles are equipped with computing technologies to operate and even 4G connections - which makes them a possible target for hacking. As Fortune Magazine reports, General Motors' CEO Mary Barra announced recently that they would introduce automated driving in 2016, a technology that should be entering the mass market within a decade - and, with these kind of plans, GM's cybersecurity decisions would make even more sense.
However, this would only be the newest technology to reach automobiles, as the more recent models of every major car company have added newer connection technologies to their machines. From 4G to radar systems of adaptive cruise control (such as GPS technology), as well as rear cameras; besides, car makers also face competition from technology companies that are creating new software that should be able to adapt to their driving machines. This forces car companies to develop stronger nets of cybersecurity, as it is more possible to hack the cars and violate the privacy of their owners in the meantime.
The new General Motors position was announced past Tuesday in a statement made by GM executive vice president of global product development, Mark Reuss. According to the Wall Street Journal, he said that: "We went to the Navy, the nuclear part of the Navy, we went to Boeing and Virginia Tech to ask who you hire, how you hired them and what you charged them to do. We have to look at [car technology] on a critical systems level. We see this a competitive advantage."
According to Fortune, Massimilla has been working with General Motors since 2010 in different positions, most recently as the director of global validations. However, he would be the first GM cybersecurity officer ever.
