Our cars are more hackable than we thought, Senate report finds

With smarter cars comes improved safety, better performance and all the benefits of a smartphone baked into your dashboard. Yet automakers have been slow to recognize how hackers can take advantage of on-the-road computers or how best to protect our privacy, according to a new report.

The report, released Monday by Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), detailed lax cybersecurity that opens vehicles to potential hacking and drivers to privacy breaches as automakers collect more data on our driving habits.

Markey's office sent a lengthy questionnaire to 20 automakers more than a year ago to compile the report, and 16 responded. The survey found that a majority of automakers questioned were unaware of or failed to report past hacking incidents. Only two of the companies said they had systems in place to fend off hacking attacks in real-time and only two confirmed they could remotely slow down or stop a vehicle under the control of a hacker.