San Francisco: Cybersecurity is the biggest concern for companies evaluating risk in the nascent self-driving vehicle industry, according to a survey conducted by Munich Re.
The world’s second-biggest reinsurer found that 55 per cent of corporate risk managers surveyed named cybersecurity as their top concern about self-driving cars. Cybersecurity included the potential hacking of an automated car’s data systems as well as the failure of smart road infrastructure, Munich Re said in an email.
“Cybersecurity is a new exposure when it comes to automobiles,” Mike Scrudato, head of Munich Re’s mobility operations, said in a telephone interview. “One of the factors that could increase premiums is the cyber exposure because there is no real cyber product being purchased in relation to auto today.”
Quicktake: driverless cars
The question of how to allocate liability when autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles share the roads was the main concern for 27 per cent of respondents. The risks of autonomous cars have grown more prominent after several crashes involving Tesla Motors Inc. vehicles’ Autopilot feature, including the first fatal wreck when a Model S slammed into an eighteen-wheeler crossing a Florida highway. Safety was the top concern of six per cent of the risk managers surveyed.
Most companies aren’t yet prepared for the roll-out of self-driving vehicles, reflecting scepticism that the cars will arrive on American roads inside the next five years. Some 64 per cent have done no preparation for autonomous vehicles hitting the market, according to the survey of more than 100 of corporate risk managers across all industries conducted by Munich Re at a risk and insurance conference in San Diego in April.
