Inside an unassuming building on Georgia Tech's premises is a group of researchers looking into potential cyber security vulnerabilities of autonomous vehicles.
An entire room is dedicated to testing to see how humans might react if a driverless vehicle is hacked.
“We primarily look at the interface between the human the vehicle and the infrastructure,” said Srinivas Peeta, who leads the university's Autonomous & Connected Transportation (ACT) laboratory.
Inside the lab is a full-sized vehicle surrounded by large screens. The car moves slightly to immerse the test subject in an eerily authentic environment where reactions are observed and recorded.
I participated in a simulation of a vehicle behaving strangely due to interference from hackers. A vehicle on the screen inside the car began behaving erratically, and after slowly maintaining my distance behind the car, I hit the accelerator and passed it.
All of my reactions were carefully scrutinised by the researchers, who measured everything from eye movements to how I rotated the steering wheel.
Concerns about cyber security and driverless cars are not without precedent.
Waymo, which has permission to operate dozens of its autonomous vehicles in parts of Atlanta, Georgia, and several other US cities, touches on cyber security on its website.
“Protecting the Waymo driver from malicious activity is paramount,” a section on the website reads.
“Waymo has developed a robust process to identify, prioritise, and mitigate cyber security threats in alignment with industry and government-defined security best practices.” It does not go into great detail about what the mitigation process involves.
The continuing research at Georgia Tech and elsewhere into the potential ramifications of autonomous vehicles being hacked is taking place as individuals try to test the limits of autonomous and driverless technology security.
During an appearance at the 2022 World Government Summit in Dubai, David Colombo, who was 19 at the time, spoke to officials about how he managed to hack 25 Teslas across 13 countries, urging governments work closer with the private sector to increase cyber security.
There have also been reports of others managing to hack Tesla vehicles and overcome their speed restrictions.
Another widely documented hack has shown just how vulnerable keyless entry systems are, with various demonstrations showing how criminals can take advantage of loopholes in the technology.
Yangjiao Chen, a doctoral student at Georgia Tech, said that although hacking is not necessarily high on the list of concerns when it comes to autonomous vehicles, it should not be overlooked.
“Connectivity is one of the basic attack vectors for hackers,” she explained.
Ms Chen added that the end result of a hack could be something as simple as a small traffic jam, or it could escalate into something far more consequential.
“It all depends on the different motivations … a hack could manipulate vehicles and cause collisions,” she said.
While the onus of cyber security currently rests with the autonomous vehicle manufacturers and regulators, Ms Chen said that her research looks at the potential roles that humans can play, even on a subconscious level.
“How will human drivers react to the anomalies when they're driving and other vehicles, autonomous vehicles behave strangely?” Ms Chen said.
So far, her tests and research indicate that once humans are aware of the possibility that other vehicles might have been hacked, they are significantly more prone to be careful and keep a safe distance.
Ms Chen added that even without a warning provided before the tests begin, some results show that humans are able to adjust relatively well to autonomous vehicles behaving strangely.
“They can mostly feel the differences,” she said.
Yongyang Liu, another doctoral student at Georgia Tech who researches transport technology, said that as driverless vehicles become more common, there will be a transition period that might be uncomfortable for drivers.
“Autonomous vehicles and human-driven vehicles look the same at first glance, but humans have social intuitions and react to social clues,” he explained, adding that the disconnect between humans and autonomous vehicles sharing the road might cause crashes for a multitude of reasons.
Yet hope is far from lost, he said.
“Humans have an ability to learn, so we can make autonomous vehicles with increasingly human-centric designs so the driverless vehicles improve their interactions.”
Meanwhile, despite driverless technology making incredible progress in the last decade, polling indicates that humans are still uneasy about autonomous vehicles.
As of 2025, only 13 per cent of US drivers said they trusted self-driving vehicles, according to polling from the American Automobile Association – only a slight increase from the survey results last year.
But there is some consensus among those polled, with 78 per cent supporting the idea of prioritising the advancement of autonomous vehicle safety systems.
Those numbers give credence to the work being done by Mr Peeta and his team at Georgia Tech.
“The trust is a fundamental issue, and the more trust we get, the more people will be comfortable with these vehicles,” he said.
The specs: 2018 Maserati Ghibli
Price, base / as tested: Dh269,000 / Dh369,000
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 355hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 4,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.9L / 100km
Meydan card
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (PA) Group 1 US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm: Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) Group 2 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m
10pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
Step by step
2070km to run
38 days
273,600 calories consumed
28kg of fruit
40kg of vegetables
45 pairs of running shoes
1 yoga matt
1 oxygen chamber
Neil Thomson – THE BIO
Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.
Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.
Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.
Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.
Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.
Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
SCHEDULE
Saturday, April 20: 11am to 7pm - Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Festival and Para jiu-jitsu.
Sunday, April 21: 11am to 6pm - Abu Dhabi World Youth (female) Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Monday, April 22: 11am to 6pm - Abu Dhabi World Youth (male) Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Tuesday, April 23: 11am-6pm Abu Dhabi World Masters Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Wednesday, April 24: 11am-6pm Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Thursday, April 25: 11am-5pm Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Friday, April 26: 3pm to 6pm Finals of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Saturday, April 27: 4pm and 8pm awards ceremony.
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
UAE SQUAD
UAE team
1. Chris Jones-Griffiths 2. Gio Fourie 3. Craig Nutt 4. Daniel Perry 5. Isaac Porter 6. Matt Mills 7. Hamish Anderson 8. Jaen Botes 9. Barry Dwyer 10. Luke Stevenson (captain) 11. Sean Carey 12. Andrew Powell 13. Saki Naisau 14. Thinus Steyn 15. Matt Richards
Replacements
16. Lukas Waddington 17. Murray Reason 18. Ahmed Moosa 19. Stephen Ferguson 20. Sean Stevens 21. Ed Armitage 22. Kini Natuna 23. Majid Al Balooshi
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
- Coastal protection: Reduce erosion and improve water quality
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
