The Metal Coffee Can is the New Kryptonite Club
As vehicle connectivity continues to evolve, the risk of widespread cyberattacks increases dramatically. Copying code from vehicle fobs is easy and thieves can do it from outside your home, motel, or office, unless you put your fob in a metal container, such as a coffee can.
This is the reality of a wireless, connected world where car doors lock with a click and a chirp, where children in the backseat stream videos, where back-up cameras make parking easy, where driver assist prevents accidents and companies can update software technology remotely.
"Really, some cyber experts don't go to sleep without putting their key into a metal container," said Moshe Shlisel, a veteran of the Israeli Air Force and now CEO of GuardKnox Cyber Technologies. "It's called a Faraday Cage. You block the electromagnetic field."
Read the article at Detroit Free Press.
Plans for China’s First Global Automotive Company Includes Volvo
In 2010, a little known Chinese billionaire named Li Shufu, and his company Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. bought struggling Volvo from Ford - by the end of this year the company will have introduced nine models, essentially replacing its entire product lineup.
Hakan Samuelsson became the chief executive officer of Volvo Car Group in 2012, and since then Volvo has built an engine plant and two vehicle assembly factories in China, plus another assembly facility in South Carolina, while expanding research and development centers in Sweden and California.
“It’s not that they came with a bag of money; actually the opposite. The entire turnaround of Volvo has been financed by Volvo’s cash flow. They left us alone and had the patience as an investor not to take our money but to reinvest it in a new product portfolio. We were close to being dead in 2010. And here we are,” said Lex Kerssemakers, a top Volvo executive under both Ford and Geely.
Read the article at Bloomberg.
Texting System Streamlines Efficiencies Between Drivers and Fleet Managers
A new texting system that’s in development by ARI will improve efficiencies between drivers and fleet managers by making it easier for drivers to get information that they need directly.
Trump Lacks Understanding of Auto Supply Chain Intricacy
If Trump follows through on using "national security" concerns about declining manufacturing jobs to justify adding a major tax on imported trucks, cars and auto parts, auto industry analysts and advocates say American consumers will be hurt.
Analysts wondered whether Trump's auto announcement wasn't both an effort to gain leverage in stalled trade negotiations and a play for votes in the industrial north — Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois.
"There is no vehicle manufactured in the U.S. today that doesn't have at least one part from outside the U.S.," Dave Sullivan, manager of product analysis at AutoPacific Inc. said.
Read the article at Detroit Free Press.
Privacy Mode Feature Now Available to Geotab Customers
Geotab announced the launch of its new Privacy Mode feature. Intended for drivers who require intervals of privacy, Privacy Mode enables both drivers and dispatchers to temporarily shield vehicle tracking within their MyGeotab fleet management application.
Privacy Mode is specifically designed for drivers who may use work vehicles on their personal time or in the event that it is an organizational requirement that exact locations of drivers be unidentifiable in a particular zone. When Privacy Mode is enabled for a vehicle, features that use GPS such as position, trips and speed profiles are not displayed.
Privacy Mode provides drivers and dispatchers with the ability to distinguish between trips and as a result, manage privacy accordingly. As part of a fleet’s overall data privacy strategy, Privacy Mode, with its granular access controls, helps promote good data management practices.
