Honda Australia is launching a new Accord heavily loaded with internet-connected features, but it says it has taken lessons from other markets and partnered with Telstra to ensure customers’ security.
The 11th-generation Honda Accord arrives in Australia with an abundance of features never before seen in the local range, such as Google built-in, an embedded Telstra SIM, and its most comprehensive connected services functions to date.
The latter includes the ability to unlock, start and drive the Accord without a physical key – among many other features – with owners capable of accessing these controls through the Honda Connect smartphone application.
However, systems such as these on other cars have been shown to include flaws which tech-savvy hackers can take advantage of, in some cases leading to the car being stolen.
Speaking at the new Accord’s launch, Honda Australia’s senior product planner Arjun Nidigallu said the brand has leaned on lessons from other markets to make the flagship sedan as best-protected as possible.
“We take privacy and security very seriously, and it’s been part of our evaluation of this product for a number of years now,” Mr Nidigallu told the assembled media.
“We’ve learned a lot of lessons from the products similar to these that we’ve launched in other countries, namely Indonesia and Malaysia. We’ve had the products in the UK for a while and the US so we’ve taken on all those leads and we’ve found smart solutions for that.
“For example, the car will remind you every month to submit the odometer reading in the connect app, so we know that you’re still in physical possession of the vehicle. That’s a way of ensuring we minimise the risk of someone joining the car.”
Jon Young Flores, Telstra’s Executive of Agribusiness, Manufacturing, Logistics and Retail, said Accord owners will benefit from the telecommunications giant’s extensive security network.
“At Telstra we’ve got what we call our Cleaner Pipes initiative, which is a level of security across our mobile network where we’re constantly scanning and monitoring for any threats and attacks that might be trying to bring the network down or that might be trying to access the network,” Mr Young Flores said.
“[The] Cleaner Pipes initiatives would be almost like an umbrella piece that the Honda experience would benefit from.”
Despite being Australia’s largest telecommunications company by a wide margin, Telstra has managed to avoid any major hacking scandals in the recent past, unlike Optus which suffered a breach of 10 million customer’s data in 2022.
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