Public Safety committee  I'm not sure if they are going to bring those cases. If there is any intention of that, I'm not aware of it. However, at this stage of information availability, I'd say that even those mechanical car keys can be manufactured rather easily.

Public Safety committee  I'm not aware of anything in that regard.

Public Safety committee  Just remember that hardware is also easy to capture, so with those mechanical car keys, you also have the ability to reproduce and remanufacture them. If you're thinking about organized crime, they certainly have access to generating those car keys mechanically and distributing them through their system.

Public Safety committee  That is a very hard question to answer. I don't have that number about the actual numbers that can go into the vehicle to make it secure, so unfortunately I can't answer that question.

Public Safety committee  Sure. Yes, AI is currently used in both cases, on both sides, as a tool to create defence and to basically identify, for example, if you are you, through some of the very simple applications. Face recognition on your phone or some of that might have AI to basically some capacity.

Public Safety committee  In the big picture, yes, there are certainly things that the car manufacturers can do. Some are taking this more seriously than others. Since 2016 and before, some of the car companies and OEMs actually started looking into the issues of cybersecurity. However, the technology is advancing much faster than we can find the loopholes in the security and fix it.

Public Safety committee  I don't think I can answer on behalf of insurances companies. They have to answer that part. Yes, there are certainly some technologies we can use to basically make it more difficult. The thing is that although any system is not 100% secure, if we make it difficult or create a process so that it takes longer to attack or get into the vehicle, that could be a deterrent for whoever is trying to steal that car.

Public Safety committee  Although the regulations haven't been adjusted in Canada, the SAE standards and ISO standards and the world forum for harmonization of vehicle regulations have recently been adjusted. In Europe, those will be enforced starting in July 2024. This means that vehicles will have to have the secure-by-design principle and some level of testing for security incorporated before they can start selling new car models.

Public Safety committee  I'm a cynic and a researcher, so my answer has that bias in it. I always go by the fact that no vehicle is 100% secure. If we close the door on this side, there will be another way to open it.

Public Safety committee  Yes, certainly.

Public Safety committee  Unfortunately, I believe that banning those technological devices is not going to help. The thieves are certainly not going to abide by the law. They'll get them from other sources. The only thing it did was create a bit of panic in my students, who wondered what they would use to learn.

Public Safety committee  Unfortunately, there is no way to secure a system or a car 100% and say, “It's done and we are okay.”

Public Safety committee  In terms of identifying the differences among Tesla and the other carmakers, basically, they all make cars but they're making cars very differently from each other. Tesla has its own weaknesses that I'm not going to disclose here. In terms of auto theft, yes, they have a little more success.

Public Safety committee  Stealing a car has basically always been a little bit easy, but these days, because of information sharing and the availability of resources online, information is much easier and readily available. Let's admit that our newer generation is more tech-savvy than some of us, so if they are seeking information, they can easily find that information.

Public Safety committee  Unfortunately, there is not just one piece of advice. We have to remember that although we like to have our cars to be smoother, have a lot of safety features, be connected and do a lot of amazing things, the manufacturing of automotive vehicles has turned into a super complex issue, as well as the whole engineering and concept.