Next Up: Deleting Driver Data Is No Longer Enough in Connected Vehicles Connected Fleets Face Growing Cyber Risks as Technological Landscape Grows As fleets adopt more connected vehicles, telematics, and AI-powered technologies, cyber threats are evolving just as quickly. From ransomware and cargo theft to vulnerabilities in connected vehicle systems, here's what fleet managers need to know to stay ahead of the risks. As fleets continue adopting connected vehicles, telematics platforms, and AI-powered technologies, cybersecurity is becoming an increasingly important part of fleet operations. During a recent discussion with Automotive Fleet, Yaniv Maimon, VP of Cyber Research at Upstream, outlined the evolving cyber threat landscape for commercial fleets and explained why fleet managers should begin treating cybersecurity as a business risk rather than solely an IT concern. Ransomware Remains the Most Common Threat Among the cyber incidents affecting fleets today, ransomware continues to pose one of the greatest operational risks. Rather than targeting vehicles directly, ransomware attacks typically focus on the organizations that operate them, encrypting critical systems or preventing employees from accessing fleet management platforms and business data. Third-party technology providers can also become targets. One example discussed was an outage involving a cloud-based electronic logging device (ELD) provider. When the provider's systems became unavailable, fleets relying on its service were forced to switch to manual logging, creating operational delays and compliance challenges. These incidents highlight how dependent fleets have become on connected technologies and cloud-based services. Cargo Theft Has Entered the Digital Age Cybercriminals are also changing how they steal freight. Rather than relying on physical theft, attackers are increasingly using stolen credentials, compromised business systems, or impersonated fleet accounts to redirect valuable shipments. According to Maimon, these digitally enabled cargo theft schemes have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses and continue to become more