Hacking into wired cars

A new Senate report released Monday says cars equipped with wireless Internet could be a security risk and could transmit personal information about a driver.  

The report, from Massachusetts Democrat Ed Markey, says automakers are short on safeguards that would keep hackers from, say, taking control of your car, and causing it to accelerate suddenly, or killing the brakes.

“This is a big deal,” says Dave Cole, chairman of AutoHarvest, which encourages innovation in the auto industry. 

Cole says cars with wireless Internet could also transmit all kinds of data about their drivers. That could come in handy during, say, a hurricane evacuation, or maybe help parents.

“Do I want to track a teenaged son who might be doing something I don’t want him to do? But how about my everyday life? Do I want somebody checking on that all the time?” Cole wonders.

He says we might need federal rules to establish what information can be collected, and how it can be used.