Under Attack: The Discrepancy between Cybersecurity Regulation and Vehicle Regulation

Attack surfaces are increasing as products are increasingly more connected. This has been acknowledged by the European Commission in their Europe: fit for the digital age strategy and in recent legislative proposals. Most importantly, the proposed Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) sets minimum cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements. These requirements range from effective and regular tests to the dissemination of free security updates in case of a cybersecurity breach. This should ensure a base level of cybersecurity throughout the product’s lifetime. Unfortunately, there is a catch: not all products with digital elements fall within the scope of the proposed CRA. For instance, vehicles are not subject to the proposed Act. The exclusion of this category of products with digital elements seems to be based on the premise that ‘the sectoral rules achieve the same level of protection as the one provided for by this Regulation’ (recital 14). This contribution is challenging this premise, as it explores the level of cybersecurity as laid down in the proposed CRA and compares it to the level of cybersecurity ensured by the sectoral rules in vehicle regulation. Could this mean that your smartphone is going to be more cybersecure than your car?