Automotive Cybersecurity Solutions

Challenges for Vehicle Manufacturers

Connected vehicles receive data such as weather information, security patches, and the speed of other vehicles. Manufacturers must secure each point of connectivity, from the manufacturing floor to the road. They perform the following tasks:

Send remote software updates
Prevent attacks on core systems
Remotely fulfill features upgrade requests
Keep up with current and future regulations
Verify hardware such as smart keys, infotainment
devices, and electronic control units (ECUs)

Futurex Solutions for Vehicle Manufacturers

Futurex HSMs are available both on-premises and in the cloud. Industry-leading encryption and key management systems provide a foundational layer of security and trust between vehicular electronic control units (ECUs) and backend infrastructure. Futurex solutions enable you to do the following functions:

Digitally sign smart keys, infotainment devices, and ECUs
Protect core functionality with tamper-proof embedded HSM
Establish PKI to manage key and certificate lifecycles
Meet and regulatory requirements with FIPS-validated encryption
Send push updates

Challenges for Parts Manufacturers

Increased vehicular communication means an increased number of data endpoints. Those endpoints, as well as the numerous electrical control units (ECUs) that support them, must be properly secured to safeguard passengers and to satisfy security regulations.

Manage key lifecycles for ECUs
Guarantee cybersecurity through device signing
Encrypt vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications

Futurex Solutions for Parts Manufacturers

Futurex provides industry-leading key management solutions to secure endpoints within connected vehicles. This allows for mutual authentication between endpoints, object signing, increased automotive cybersecurity, and more.

Digitally sign objects to verify hardware
Inject and store keys both manually and remotely
Establish PKI to manage key and certificate lifecycles

Challenges for Service Providers

Vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication continues to advance, with connected vehicles accessible through mobile apps. Advanced V2X abilities pose both security risks and opportunities for providers.

Multi-factor authentication: verify end users for enhanced security
Mobile app integration: ensures wide customer base and faster development process
Payment acceptance: securely process financial transactions
Rideshare and carshare: expand revenue-generating services

Futurex Solutions for Service Providers

Futurex’s solution suite involves fully validated hardware security modules (HSMs) and key management servers (KMSs). Providers use these for encryption and to develop a PKI, paving the way to a future of effective key management, cybersecurity, and the expansion of in-demand services.

Securely process financial transactions with FIPS-validated HSMs
Integrate with software apps using centralized encryption management tools
Deploy multi-factor authentication for enhanced automotive cybersecurity
Leverage your PKI to expand revenue-generating practices, like tracking vehicle rentals

Automotive Cybersecurity Regulations

Connected vehicles must be protected from cyber threats. Regulations like the USDOT’s Automated Vehicles Comprehensive Plan were developed for this purpose.

Networked Electronic Control Units (ECUs)

Modern cars contain hundreds of electronic control units (ECUs). These can exchange data like speed and direction with other connected vehicles to prevent collisions.

Object Signing

Futurex object signing ensures the secure connectivity of data between two endpoints. It allows automotive companies to send focused software and firmware updates to road vehicles both in production and on the market.

Signing denies hackers attempting to import, load, or alter the car’s software code. The vehicle’s cyber security features actively reject changes not from the authorized parent source, thus ensuring security against any cyber attack.

Parts verification

You can also use object signing for parts verification. For example, you can digitally sign car batteries, one of many components at risk of being counterfeited, on the manufacturing floor.

Other components, such as electronic control units, can also be guarded against cyber attacks with digital signatures. These signatures cannot be replicated, protecting the brand and customers from dangerous counterfeits.

Multi-Factor Authentication

A car does not inherently know its owner. It responds to the physical key. Multi-factor authentication adds additional cyber security when verifying end-users. After implementation, it enables passenger cars to protect themselves by rejecting commands from fraudulent users.

Identifying users

There are three ways of identifying automotive users: with something users know (such as a password or PIN), with something users have (such as a smart card or token), or through something users are (such as biometrics: retina scanning, voice recognition, fingerprint scanning, and so on).

PKI leads to multi-factor identification

The development of multi-factor authentication adds an extra layer of automotive cybersecurity when verifying the customer’s identity by combining two of these categories. Futurex provides the foundational PKI necessary to identify end-users in this way.

V2I, V2V, and V2D

Current Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and upcoming vehicles with SAE levels 3 and above require data sharing to function properly. Thus, automotive cyber security is essential, making it a major safety concern of compliance regulators.

Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) communication

V2I gathers necessary global or local information, such as traffic or road conditions, to intelligently lead a car to its destination. It gathers this information remotely, typically through a Wi-Fi connection and from a substantial distance.

With secured V2I, hackers seeking to eavesdrop or interfere with automotive systems are denied.

Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communication

V2V occurs when vehicles are in close range and can establish ad-hoc networks. They can share the speed, position, and direction, necessary for autonomous driving.

Open networks such as these require encryption and data protection so that drivers don’t accidentally share malicious software code.

Vehicle-to-Device (V2D) communication

V2D describes the connection between unsecured mobile devices and connected cars for remote monitoring and access.

With V2D in place, drivers can remotely access their cars from smartphones, using certificate-based mutual authentication.

Embeddable, Form-Factor Hardware Security Modules

Futurex offers small, form factor hardware security modules that guarantee complete cyber security for automotive needs.

You can embed the ESM1000, designed for widespread environments, directly into vehicles on the production line. This tamper-resistant device prevents unauthorized access to the core functionality and electronics of the vehicle it is embedded in.

Like all Futurex devices, it provides maximum automotive cybersecurity and compliance by design.

PKI and other key management services

With cryptographic tools embedded within vehicles, your business can make use of advanced key lifecycle management for over-the-air rotation.

With such a process in place, your company is secured and able to pursue revenue-generating practices such as tracking vehicle rentals and facilitating remote purchase upgrades.