Connected and intelligent vehicle safety has become a global question. China’s early lead in electrification and intelligent systems makes it a testing ground — which is precisely why the security architecture matters now, while the market is still being built.
As vehicles, roads, people and networks connect more deeply, the attack surface widens. The 14th Five-Year Plan for modern transport encourages autonomous driving in ports, logistics parks and other limited areas, and smart transit, parking and inspection — while security practice is still maturing.
The state of play
Industry specialists describe connected-car security as being in a climbing phase. Public attention fixes on self-driving incidents, but driving is only part of the picture: a vehicle generates large volumes of data across its life, and data security is the layer that needs attention. Early vehicle networking prioritised business exploration over security, which is why so many vulnerabilities surfaced — researchers once demonstrated remote control of a Tesla with no physical contact.
Security here has a weakest-link quality: the software supply chain, the phone app on the user side, the cloud services and the in-car systems — any of them can be the hole. By the figures the ministry disclosed in October 2021, more than 2,000 connected-car vulnerabilities were on record, covering smart gateways and remote communications among others.
Where manufacturers stand
Most models on the market today still protect poorly: connected and control components inside the car lack reliable defences and even basic security policy, risking leaks, tampering, abnormal driving behaviour or worse. The market is fragmented along vendor lines, and data does not flow between them; traditional internet security does not transfer cleanly to vehicles.
The recommendation that recurs: make security a partner relationship from product design onward, with a closed-loop system spanning consulting, product design, secure development, testing and operations across the whole life cycle. The three core layers — communications, storage and authentication — need to be sound at the base. Patching security onto a finished product is a fence around a house with no foundation; the architecture gets messier with every new threat.
Regulation is moving: the Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law are in force, draft rules for industrial data security are in progress, and technical requirements for connected-vehicle data services already cover everything except personal data. The next three years are expected to bring a concentrated wave of rules and standards. Manufacturers should also welcome white-hat researchers — vulnerability reporting and emergency response mechanisms proven in traditional IT transfer well to vehicles.
Republished for information. The original text has not been independently verified and does not necessarily reflect our views.
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