From Sam Edge, Ringwood, Hampshire, UK
You quote Simon Parkinson suggesting that a coordinated cyberattack on smart cars would take a lot of resources, so problems with such vehicles that result in gridlock may be more likely to result from a botched software update (9 March, p 8). But cars have a lot of hardware and software in common – for example “smart” alarms. Flaws are likely to be present in models from different manufacturers.
A weakness that gave remote access to cars' on-board control networks could allow a person to disable many vehicles using only an internet-connected computer. Perhaps they could use satnav systems to select cars in a given area for maximum disruption.
