A Cloud-Based Firewall to Stop Car-Data Hackers

Using a cloud-based computing setup, the third largest maker of luxury vehicles unveiled a new set of protections from hackers in the face of driverless travel.

1 minute read

September 19, 2014, 7:00 AM PDT

By Maayan Dembo @DJ_Mayjahn


A recent piece on Bloomberg News by Dorothee Tschampa reports how Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, announced the new technology protecting car-data at a conference in their hometown of Stuttgart, Germany earlier this week.

According to Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt, the head of legal affairs at Daimler AG, "[e]lements of the technology will include enabling people in a vehicle to control how much of their data is available to the outside world while they’re on the road." Drivers will also be able to erase information automatically upon finishing any give trip.

Indeed, Tschampa also cites a recent study by Boston-based Lux Research within her piece. The group estimated the industry surrounding self-driving cars will value $87 billion by 2030, with the majority of money focused on developing software. This has "prompted automakers and insurers to look at how to prevent hackers from gaining access to information or even hijacking vehicles by remote control."

Thursday, September 18, 2014 in Bloomberg News

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30, 2026 - Yale Environment 360

A road in north eastern Nebraska with power lines on either side, and grassy fields.

Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity

Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.

November 6, 2026 - Grist

A rendering of a mall turned living space. People walk around a green space surrounded by apartments.

Malls are becoming the midtowns of the future

Mall and office park redevelopments are a generational opportunity to create new nodes of urbanity.

October 29, 2026 - Ben Schneider

A car drives through a puddle in NYC

NYC breaks ground on anti-flooding infrastructure project

New York City's new system will reduce stormwater flows to local sewers by 90%.

November 9 - Smart Cities Dive

Members of the Smoketown CLT gather for a photo

One Kentucky town’s secret to affordable housing

The Smoketown Community Land Trust has already built seven affordable homes for community members.

November 9 - Reasons to Be Cheerful

Two people stand under mesh coverings shaped like petals

Houston gains petal-shaped cooling infrastructure to make streets more ‘delightful’

The city has installed the pavilions along 15 blocks in Houston.

November 9 - De Zeen

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.