Cybersecurity within the context of road vehicles refers to the protection of automotive electronic systems, communication networks, control algorithms, software, users, and underlying data from malicious attacks, damage, unauthorized access or manipulation.
This is a serious concern due to the car industry’s digital transformation which exposes new cybersecurity threats. Before the digital era and 5G architecture, what happened in your car typically stayed in your car. That of course is no longer the case. The influx of digital innovations, from infotainment connectivity to over-the-air (OTA) software updates, is turning cars into information clearinghouses.
While delivering significant customer value, these changes also expose vehicles to the seamier side of the digital revolution. Hackers and other black-hat intruders are attempting to gain access to critical in-vehicle electronic units and data, potentially compromising critical safety functions and customer privacy.
Industry leaders report that cars today have up to 150 electronic control units. By 2030 cars are expected to have 300 million lines of software code (today’s cars have about 100 million lines of code).
For perspective purposes, a passenger aircraft has an estimated 15 million lines of code, a modern fighter jet about 25 million, and a mass-market PC operating system close to 40 million. This overabundance of complex software code results from both the legacy of designing electronics systems in specific ways for the past 35 years and the growing requirements and increasing complexity of systems in connected and autonomous cars.
It all boils down to generating ample opportunity for cyberattacks.
Cybersecurity professionals say this: Automotive players must consider cybersecurity over the entire product life cycle and not just up to when the car is sold to a customer, because new technical vulnerabilities can emerge at any time.
These issues can have a direct impact on customers and cars already on the road, thus effectively requiring OEMs to provide security-related software patches well into the car’s ownership life cycle.
Want to know more? Tonex offers Automotive Cybersecurity Training Course, a 3-day class that covers all aspects of cybersecurity within the context of road vehicles.
Additionally, Tonex offers nearly three dozen more courses in Cybersecurity Foundation. This includes cutting edge courses like:
—Cybersecurity Fundamentals (2 days)
—Electric Grid Cybersecurity Master Certification (4 weeks)
—Network Security Training (2 days)
—Software Security Training (2 days)
—ICS Cybersecurity Training (4 days)
For more information, questions, comments, contact us.