Why your car may soon become more dangerous

Cars may be getting smarter, but that doesn't mean they are getting safer.

As vehicles become more connected to the Internet, automakers are failing to take the necessary measures to protect them against cyberattacks, according to a report released Monday by Sen. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass.

Unlike breaches on retailers, banks and other institutions—where the loss could entail a credit card number or some other personal information—a cyberattack on your car could cost you your life.

"I don't want to be hyperbolic about it, but we are connecting computers to things that can now kill you," said Jeff Williams, founder and CTO of Contrast Security. "Cars are potentially a really deadly thing if you lose control. So we are crossing a threshold into a world where you aren't just losing a spreadsheet or a credit card number, you are talking about directly harming people."

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Increasingly consumers are buying cars based on their level of connectivity, according to a recent study by McKinsey . The study found that 80 percent of car buyers consider connectivity "important" or "very important."

In fact, it's forecast that more than 50 percent of vehicles sold worldwide this year will be connected to the Internet in at least some minor way, and by 2025 it is predicted that every car will be connected in multiple ways, according to the GSMA.

While hacking a car's system has thus far primarily been something "white hat" hackers have demoed to prove that vulnerabilities exist, there's the risk that as more connected cars hit the streets more cars will become targets of attacks.

"From a vulnerability perspective, I think this could become a massive problem," Williams said.

"The vulnerabilities we see today are pretty hard to exploit. Often times you have to get close to a car in order to get onto the local network, sometimes you have to even attach something to the car to exploit these things. But as we move forward, cars are getting more and more complicated, and there will be more ways to get in."

Sensors, radars, cameras and lasers are all increasingly being built into vehicles to make cars safer and more convenient. Unfortunately, all the new technology also gives hackers more points of entry to gain control remotely.

"We now have lots of wireless access on vehicles. Everything like the tire pressure monitor in the system to the entertainment systems on board used for real-time navigation or streaming. We've got Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and all sorts of things like that on modern vehicles," said Richard Wallace, director for transportation system analysis at the center for Automotive Research.

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"All of those allow someone who is not even inside the vehicle to gain access to do something malicious. Even something as simple as accessing your keyless entry system," Wallace said.

For example, some vehicles, including Tesla (TSLA), have built-in wireless networks that enable the car company to send automatic software updates. While, this seems like a seamless way to issue large amounts of updates to cars' systems, it could also open up a new point of intrusion for bad guys.

"Being able to wirelessly update is great, but it also opens up another potential point for attack. If you can hack the update infrastructure and push your own update into cars then you can take over everyone," Williams said.

While remotely accessing a car to take over critical functions has proved difficult thus far, it's becoming more of a reality.