Technical difficulties happen to the best of us. We’ve all experienced the so-called “blue screen of death” when our PC crashes, or else some other computer-related frustration. Viruses are also a big deal and it seems that nary a week goes by without one of my Facebook friends passing on a warning about some new Trojan or worm that some malicious hacker has set loose on the internet. So, as a Dallas-Fort Worth personal injury lawyer, I was naturally intrigued by a report by antivirus software maker MacAfee which suggest that our cars will be hacker’s new targets.

The report, titled Caution: Malware Ahead, suggests that since automobiles have evolved in recent years they have become increasingly dependent on their on-board computers they could become targets for anarchist technical wizards. The potential problems this could create for people like you and I range from theft since hackers could easily unlock doors and even start engines remotely, to wrecking a car’s computer system so completely it creates a variety of dangers such as brakes not working and other faults which could potentially cause fatal accidents.

Don’t get too concerned just yet though, as The Car Connection points out, the reward for hackers to go after our cars is currently minimal. For starters, in order to access a car’s computer they would actually have to be inside the vehicle. It’s not easy, not quick and results in little benefit. However, as the technology continues to develop and presumably become more integrated between different vehicles and other devises, such a problem could become a genuine problem.

For now, however, this is nothing to worry about. Certainly not in comparison to the very real danger of drunk or distracted drivers.

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