Free Essay Sample. Innovation

Innovation is the creation of a particular process or object and employing it in business for commercial purposes. In society today, innovation has driven the development of human society. It has brought fame, wealth, and success to many people and nations. For instance, Mesopotamia is well known for the invention of the wheel. The invention brought the nation economic success and popularity as many nations did not yet possess this technology.

Investors need to understand the numerous impact innovations can have on human life. As a result, this paper is going to look at a new technology called autonomous vehicles. It will look at its characteristics and its implications in the cybersecurity realm, particularly within the transportation sector. Also, since the technology affects the transport sector, the paper will look at this critical infrastructure in detail.

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The Transportation System Sector

The transport sector is a critical infrastructure, which helps in the movement of persons and goods & services. The sector is comprised of road, air, and water transport. The state and federal government control most of the transportation sector as it is critical to the economy of the United States of America. Just like other industries, this sector has also been impacted by technology. The autonomous systems have infiltrated the transportation sector as vehicles are becoming self-reliant. As a result, the government has developed various policies and guidelines to ensure that this industry does not negatively impact the transportation sector. The main reason for this is that the sector is significant to the economy.

Autonomous Vehicles

The history of autonomous vehicles is very long and exciting. It begins with science enthusiasts in the 20th century having visions of people in vehicles that move them from place to place. It then morphed to Norman Bel Geddes, developing the first vehicle of this kind, which was radio-controlled. In 1958 general motors improved this invention by adding sensors to the vehicle, which aided the car in steering to the right or the left.

Later on, in 1977, the Japanese added a camera to this vehicle, which made it possible for it to compute visual images. The Germans improved on this idea by ensuring that the vehicle could drive itself at a speed of about fifty-six kilometers per hour. Currently, this technology has developed to the point that stakeholders are no longer concerned with implementation; instead, they are focused on the issues arising out of its use.

Presently, autonomous vehicles can drive, park, steer, and halt themselves. However, due to the nature of the environment, most vehicles are in semi-autonomous mode and need help when it comes to parking or even braking. The significant impact of technology on autonomous vehicles has led to improved machines (Beecroft, 2019).

For instance, self-driving cars have a lidar system, which helps to make the process appear more real. The components of the system, which make this possible, include the 360 camera on the roof, which has laser beams that are vital in the development of 3D images.

These autonomous vehicles also have a front camera, placed on the windshields which aid in near vision (Clark et al., 2019). The primary purpose of this camera is to ensure that visibility is possible when the car is on the move. It will, in turn, prevent accidents or collisions with other objects in the road.

Another essential feature of this technology is that it has sensory bumpers attached to both its front and back end (Bartolini et al., 2017). These sensory bumpers help the vehicle to know more about its environment. They also help to prevent damage to the vehicle during accidents or collisions, especially by alerting the owner when an object is too near.

The vehicle is also fitted with a GPS, which helps it know the location (Bartolini et al., 2017). It is all made possible by the information from the satellites. These vehicles have ultrasonic sensors attached to one of their rear, which helps to track the whereabouts of the car. The technology comes in handy in times of grand theft auto.

There is software installed in this technology. For instance, there is the installation of altimeters, tachymeters, and gyroscopes, which aid in the smooth movement and functioning of the motor vehicle. The software achieves its purpose through the collection of data about the vehicle.

The car has a central processing unit, which helps in the analysis and evaluation of all the data collected about the vehicle. As a result, the process of driving is made safer and exciting. An added advantage to this system is that it has artificial intelligence. AI has helped these vehicles to read road and signs and interpret them as a person in a busy street.

These vehicles also have the routes of all their destinations in their system. It was made possible by a prior test map taken by another car of the route. Thus driving is made to be more relaxed and comfortable for the passenger (Skeete, 2018). In totality, the best feature in this technology is that it can take a real-life situation and come up with a real practical solution.

For instance, it can tell when another car is moving slowly, thus it is proper to overtake, or it can even tell that a vehicle has stopped in the middle of the road. All of these have been made possible by Google.

The Cybersecurity implications of Autonomous Vehicle in the Transportation System Sector.The progress made in this technology is something straight from a science fiction movie. The enormous developments have, in turn, brought with them implications to the various sectors of the transportation sector. Just like other machines, autonomous vehicles are susceptible to virus attacks and hacking ("Can driverless cars be made safe from hackers?", 2020). All of these are known as cyber-attacks, which interfere with the functioning of the technology.

In reaction to this, The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has come up with a framework, which ensures that autonomous vehicles are safe ("Algorithmic Governance and Technological Guidance of Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Use: Regulatory Policies, Traffic Liability Rules, and Ethical Dilemmas", 2019). It includes; a system that identifies and resolves problems in the critical systems of the vehicle, fast reaction to any unauthorized access into the computer system, the design system for cybersecurity software in the vehicle should be adoptive to its circumstances, and quick processes essential for the transmission of messages between different systems for practical evaluation.

Autonomous vehicle has also led to the rise of litigation in cases involving this technology. It is often impossible to tell who is liable when these machines get involved in accidents. It may be the manufacturer or even the driver themselves. In the legal realm, there has been no significant matter which has set a precedent in this area of law.

Thus in response to these issues, manufacturers of autonomous vehicles can employ several options to help in the mitigation of these risks. Firstly, they can employ legal options such as indemnity contracts, sign waivers contracts, and observe the laws and policies in place in order to avoid liability. It should be noted that The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has put in place safety ratings specifically for this technology.

It has been established that autonomous vehicles are often affected by unwarranted hacking and cyber-attacks. As a result, the technology has been adopted to increase resistance to threats (Petrillo et al., 2018). It is achieved in various ways. Firstly by enacting relevant policies and procedures, these policies and procedures will ensure both the privacy and security facet of the vehicle are safe.

Secondly, there is a need for proper institutional practices, which will ensure the security of these vehicles (Lim & Taeihagh, 2018). These organizational practices will be looking into training, relationships, and management of issues. Thirdly there is a need for professional practices that will ensure there is increased resistance to attacks. These practices will cover both the back end-users and the technology itself. It includes areas like access and cloud computing.

The autonomous vehicle can also be used to decrease vulnerabilities in an existing technology application (Kopelias et al., 2020). For instance, the manufacturer can monitor the security operations of the vehicle and ensure that all the vulnerabilities are patched. It applies to both hacking the servers of the vehicle and hacking a phone which controls an autonomous vehicle.

Autonomous vehicle has been used by criminals, attackers, and terrorists to achieve their goals. When an attacker takes control of the vehicle, it can make it slow down or even stop (Raiyn, 2018). It happens by just hacking into any of the software that controls the data of the vehicle. Also, the information facet of the car might be affected by malware, which makes the information about the car prone to attacks.

References

Algorithmic Governance and Technological Guidance of Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Use: Regulatory Policies, Traffic Liability Rules, and Ethical Dilemmas. (2019), 11(2), 15. https://doi.org/10.22381/crlsj11220192

Bartolini, C., Tettamanti, T., & Varga, I. (2017). Critical features of autonomous road transport from the perspective of technological regulation and law. Transportation Research Procedia, 27, 791-798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2017.12.002

Beecroft, M. (2019). The future security of travel by public transport: A review of evidence. Research In Transportation Business & Management, 32, 100388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rtbm.2019.100388

Can driverless cars be made safe from hackers?. the Guardian. (2020). Retrieved 25 April 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/09/driverless-cars-safe-hackers-google.

Clark, J., Stanton, N., & Revell, K. (2019). Directability, eye-gaze, and the usage of visual displays during an automated vehicle handover task. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology And Behaviour, 67, 29-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2019.10.005

Kopelias, P., Demiridi, E., Vogiatzis, K., Skabardonis, A., & Zafiropoulou, V. (2020). Connected & autonomous vehicles - Environmental impacts - A review. Science Of The Total Environment, 712, 135237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135237

Lim, H., & Taeihagh, A. (2018). Autonomous Vehicles for Smart and Sustainable Cities: An In-Depth Exploration of Privacy and Cybersecurity Implications. Energies, 11(5), 1062. https://doi.org/10.3390/en11051062

Petrillo, A., Pescape, A., & Santini, S. (2018). A collaborative approach for improving the security of vehicular scenarios: The case of platooning. Computer Communications, 122, 59-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comcom.2018.03.014

Raiyn, J. (2018). Data and Cyber Security in Autonomous Vehicle Networks. Transport And Telecommunication Journal, 19(4), 325-334. https://doi.org/10.2478/ttj-2018-0027

Skeete, J. (2018). Level 5 autonomy: The new face of disruption in road transport. Technological Forecasting And Social Change, 134, 22-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.05.003