Vehicle tracking is a game changer in the automotive industry. The trackers help us know the exact location of a vehicle at any time. If you have a fleet, the trackers let you know each car’s condition, irrespective of location. However, GPS tracking has its challenges, among them cyber-attacks.
The attackers can infect your mobile device with viruses to compromise your GPS tracking. The hackers may also exploit your networks or devices to access your IP address. When that happens, they can track your vehicle and possibly steal it. Thankfully, there’s always a way out. Instead of waiting for cyber thieves to take advantage of your weak network devices, you can keep them off by embracing cybersecurity. Keep reading to learn how cybersecurity can promote effective vehicle tracking.
Importance of Cybersecurity in Vehicle Tracking
Vehicle trackers unveil critical information, such as the driver’s information, the location of the vehicle, and its performance. While that information is useful to the owner, hackers may use it for the wrong reasons once they gain access. As such, there’s a need to secure it more by implementing the proper cybersecurity measures.
For instance, you should use secure, cloud-based tracking solutions by RAM Tracking. The right tracker lets you find your vehicle when lost and keeps off potential remote hackers. Below are the main benefits of using cybersecurity in vehicle tracking.
1. It Protects the Vehicle
Vehicle protection is the top benefit of using cybersecurity in your automotive tracking. Imagine if your car had the best alarm system, but thieves never used it when stealing. Instead, they simply unlock the car using the computer, meaning you don’t even get a security alert! This can be a devastating experience. Most car thieves now steal cars remotely. They do this using weak wireless interfaces, such as Bluetooth, which reveal the vehicle authentication details.
For instance, if your vehicle uses Bluetooth configuration for opening and closing, they can hack your Bluetooth, making it easy to command the car even if you are not around. Proper cybersecurity measures reduce the vulnerability of your car’s wireless systems, thus protecting your car from remote attackers/thieves.
2. It Protects Humans
Cybersecurity in vehicle tracking can be useful to people using the car. Imagine that a cyber attacker can access your car by hacking the tracker. When this happens, they can open it and change vital settings without your knowledge. For instance, they might change to autopilot or interfere with the steering settings.
Since the changes are made without your knowledge, you may get involved in an accident because you are unaware of what happened behind your back. Cybersecurity helps prevent such cases from attackers, thus protecting the lives of the driver and passengers.
3. It Protects Information
Your vehicle can contain plenty of sensitive information about you. When you plug your mobile device into the car and turn on Bluetooth, your car transfers all the information. The navigation history also contains any types of data shared. Your car camera may also have images and private videos that you record. If hackers access such details, you could easily lose your vital data. The thieves could also use it for the wrong reasons. Cybersecurity in vehicle tracking helps protect your data from getting into the wrong hands.
4. It Maintains Operational Continuity
A cyberattack can disrupt your normal fleet operations and cause possible financial loss. Proper cybersecurity measures maintain the continuity of your fleet by ensuring your systems remain safe at all times. As such, your operations remain smooth all through, which can be advantageous if you run a larger fleet of vehicles.
Top Cybersecurity Measures in Vehicle Tracking
Below are the top measures to protect your vehicle tracking systems and maintain safety.
1. Access Control
Access controls limit the number of people accessing your vehicle or tracking systems. Common access control methods include biometric verification, which requires using your fingerprints or face to unlock the system. You can also use two-factor authentication to limit the number of people who can guess your passwords.
2. Firewall
A firewall monitors traffic in your network. It blocks unauthorized users and only the ones you allow. In vehicle tracking, you can use a firewall to monitor your network traffic and block suspicious users. A robust firewall can keep off hackers who try to access your networks.
3. Data Encryption
Data encryption protects your data, meaning you can only use it. If a hacker attempts to get into your systems, they won’t be able to use the tracking system’s information because it is well encrypted. The best way to secure your data is to encrypt it into an unreadable format, rendering it useless to hackers.
4. Data Backup
Data backup ensures you don’t permanently lose sensitive data even if a hacker accesses your vital automotive information. If you need a great data back solution, find a cloud-based vehicle tracker that safely keeps the data for easy retrieval in case of an unfortunate hack.
5. Security Audits
Regularly test the effectiveness of your tracking systems. For the best results, you can hire a cybersecurity expert to analyze your vehicle tracking system’s vulnerabilities and find solutions. This way, you will be sure your tracking systems are safe.
Conclusion
We cannot overstate the importance of cybersecurity in today’s interconnected world. Cybersecurity keeps the car tracking systems secure, minimizing the risk of hackers. When applied well, it can reduce potential cyber incidents and keep your vehicle secure. If your car doesn’t have a tracker and needs one, check its features to ensure it won’t expose your vehicle to hackers. Also, supply the practices above to make it more cyber secure.
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