Unlike consumer electronics, cars can stay in use for decades, long after operating systems and component software cease being supported through updates that patch vulnerabilities - a challenge the industry is still grappling with.
Car makers such as Audi and GM are integrating LTE wireless technology in their new models, offering customers faster access to the Internet but not much choice since they have both signed deals with AT&T.
Only a few days after it made what U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) called "<a href="http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/us-wants-build-cybersecurity-protection-plan-">brazen" changes to its privacy policy</a>, General Motors subsidiary OnStar has backed down and said it would revert back to its previous terms of service.
It's official: General Motors is off the Dow Jones Index, and Cisco takes its place. The transition is more than just a dry Wall Street accounting manoeuvre: From a cultural, economic, and societal perspective, it marks a seismic shift in how our world is organised.
In 2003, General Motors CIO Ralph Szygenda saw the company's future through a global lens. At the time, GM's business leaders were getting serious about globalisation, and they recognised the need to seamlessly manufacture and distribute products across geographies. The notion of creating a complementary set of common IT business processes worldwide was already a gleam in Szygenda's eye, says Dan McNicholl, chief strategy officer for GM's IT organisation.