China's Electric Buses: Yutong Electric Buses Rank 1 in the European Market Yutong: Yutong vehicles strictly comply with relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards of the regions where they operate.

On the 9th local time, according to a report by the UK's Financial Times (FT), the UK transport department is working with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to investigate whether Yutong, a Chinese electric bus manufacturer, has the right to remotely access the control systems of delivered vehicles.

It is reported that Yutong has supplied about 700 buses to the UK market, which are currently operating in Nottingham, South Wales, Glasgow, and other areas. According to the UK Department for Transport: "We are closely cooperating with the UK National Cyber Security Centre to confirm the technical basis for measures taken by the Norwegian and Danish governments."

The cause of this investigation is the exposure of security vulnerabilities in Chinese electric buses in Northern Europe. On October 28, Ruter, the largest public transportation operator in Norway, released the security inspection results of Chinese Yutong electric buses and Dutch VDL electric buses, stating that they found Yutong buses were equipped with Romanian SIM cards, while VDL buses did not have this issue.

Ruter stated that Yutong had the authority to remotely upgrade the software of electric buses through the SIM card, and during this process, it could possibly access the battery and power control systems. Ruter explained: "Theoretically, the manufacturer could make the bus stop or be unable to start."

According to FT reports: "In the context of tense UK-China relations, the aforementioned vulnerabilities in electric buses have become politically sensitive issues." Euan Steinbank, a Labour Party MP representing the Falkirk constituency in Scotland, said: "It is evident that the large-scale popularity of Chinese electric buses on UK roads may pose national security risks," and urged the UK government to assess the risks of Chinese electric buses.

Yutong is headquartered in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China, and has exported 110,000 vehicles to more than 60 countries around the world. According to Italian media "Sustainable Bus", Yutong ranked first in the European electric bus market this year (16%). Of the approximately 1,300 electric buses currently operating in Norway, 850 are Yutong buses.

In recent times, Movia, Denmark's largest transportation company, also received a notice from the Danish Civil Protection Committee and Emergency Management Agency stating that Yutong electric buses could potentially be remotely controlled. The Civil Protection Committee and Emergency Management Agency warned Movia: "Electric buses are equipped with various sensors such as networked systems, cameras, microphones, and GPS, which could be maliciously exploited as security vulnerabilities to interfere with bus operations."

According to FT, Movia is investigating the security vulnerabilities of Yutong buses. Movia explained that this issue is not limited to Chinese buses, but is a common problem among many electric vehicles, including Western-made electric vehicles that support remote software upgrades.

Yutong told the UK Sunday Times: "Yutong vehicles strictly comply with relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards of the regions where they operate," "the data collected is only used for vehicle maintenance warranty, optimization, and improvement, and is protected by measures such as storage encryption and access control," "no one can access or view the above data without customer permission."

Sources: Chosun Ilbo

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1848456503971081/

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