Why Cybersecurity is Important for the Automotive Industry

Cybersecurity is now a priority for automotive OEMs as automobiles have become more connected than they were ever before.

FREMONT, CA: A system becomes vulnerable to cyber-attack whenever it is connected to a network. Based on how secure the network is, the attack may or may not be effective.

The security issue has become serious for vehicles now that they have embraced the digital environment. A connected car, for example, is like a computer network with open interfaces like steering, braking, and other essential information about the users. When hackers gain access to the car, they can tamper with the systems or steal critical data.

It may seem far-fetched, but the same type of incidents has happened in the past to support such assertions. In addition, few researchers have carried out similar attacks on infotainment and other systems to expose their vulnerability to cyberattacks.

Why is Automotive Cybersecurity Important?

Automobiles have evolved from being wheels powered by an engine to a mobile data centre. A modern car with innovative features may contain 150 ECUs with numerous lines of source code. Each line of code burned on car ECUs increases the cyber threat to a modern vehicle. As a result, every line of code must adhere to the cybersecurity guidelines.

The threat does not restrict to cars, and it also extends to the back-end and third-party services. Managing a home EV charging installation by hacking the residential Wi-Fi is an excellent example of a cyberattack on such services.

Automotive Innovations and Cybersecurity

Connected Cars: Automobiles are slowly developing into connected gadgets that connect through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Vehicle-to-infrastructure, vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-cloud, and vehicle-to-everything technologies render the automobile vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Once the hackers get access to the vehicle-to-cloud network, they may compromise the entire fleet of vehicles linked to the cloud network. 

Highly Autonomous Vehicles: Autonomous vehicles used to look like something out of a science fiction novel or a sci-fi film. In the last few years, OEMs have monitored several kilometres on the road with autonomous vehicles. These vehicles depend on a massive amount of data from the infrastructure surrounding them, such as GPS and traffic data and the sensors incorporated in the vehicle. Any flaw in the system can lead to severe accidents.

Electric Vehicles: An EV's cybersecurity is not different from a vehicle with an IC engine. When cybersecurity is discussed in terms of electric cars, additional weakness in the shape of an electric vehicle charging station is included in it. A cyberattack on charging infrastructure could result in significant repercussions such as fire and power outages.

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