Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment the National Cyber Security Centre has made of the potential impact of kill switches in Chinese-made (a) cars and (b) buses on cyber security.

Modern vehicles – including cars and buses – are increasingly using software to support safer driving, to improve diagnostics and to provide a host of other services such as navigation and entertainment.

The Government takes national security extremely seriously and recognises the systemic challenges of increased connectivity and the cyber security implications for almost every area of government policy, including vehicles. The National Cyber Security Centre has published guidance to help organisations understand and manage the associated risks, ensuring that system connectivity is approached in a way that balances security with the significant benefits it provides.

The Department for Transport introduced two new regulations: one to strengthen vehicle cybersecurity and one on software updates (UN Reg 155 and UN Reg 156). The cybersecurity regulation sets out requirements to mitigate potential threats in vehicle construction, to monitor emerging threats and to respond to cyber-attacks.