The fact that the Connected Car not only opens up new business options, but also brings new security problems, showed last year, among other things, the hacks of BMW, Tesla or the Jeep of Fiat Chrysler (see also Auto Hacks 2015 ). What we experienced last year, as was often heard at the MWC, might just have been the beginning.
Car hacks a new business model?
If the hacking of vehicles - similar to the ransomware on the PC - with cybercriminals represents a growing number of connected cars as a business model, then a flood of attack is to be feared. Especially as was often heard behind the closed hand at the MWC, several car makers in terms of IT security of their vehicles still act very blue-eyed. To prevent such scenarios, Giesecke & Devrient (G & D) and IBM have jointly developed a Secure Gateway for the connected car.
The Secure Gateway for the car
After the two partners had presented a first white paper at the IAA in Frankfurt, G & D now demonstrated a proof of concept in the model in Barcelona. The goal is to protect the vehicle from external attacks while ensuring secure data transmission. In particular, the interconnected, required for safe vehicle operation control units (ECU) should be protected from hackers. At the same time, monitoring of data traffic should make it possible to detect abnormal behavior of the vehicle and thus detect possible manipulations. In addition, the manufacturer could then import from outside about software updates or prevent the operation of serious security flaws.
The technique
The required Intrusion Detection and Prevention Systems (IDS and IPS) has been developed by IBM . G & D, based on its Secure Element technology, ensures that the gateway is a kind of vault. An eSIM from G & D, for example, provides access to the mobile network.
The market
A market for such a system can be seen at G & D for all model series - regardless of whether it is a small car or a premium segment. It could still take a while before "Connected Cars" becomes reality, "because you can not easily design safety in a car", says G & D expert Volker Gerstenberger. Industry experts therefore assume that the first safe vehicles will probably be available in three to five years. However, it could also happen faster if the mandatory introduction of the European eCall vehicle emergency call system takes place. Then all new cars have a data connection to the outside and are therefore vulnerable.
