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How to secure connected cars with embedded firewalls

By Ahmed Khan

Connected cars are the future.

And what an amazing future these vehicles will bring. But in order for the connected car to deliver on its promises, each and every vehicle must be free of software security threats.

Securing a connected car is more difficult today because there’s more software – which means there’s more lines of code. In fact, a Ford F-150 truck today can have up to 150 million lines of code compared to a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which was reported to contain a mere 6.5 million lines of code.

It’s an amazing fact, I know.

On top of growing complexity and more lines of code there are more nefarious entities out there lurking and looking to attack the many key entry points of the connected vehicle.

The need for a multi-layered security approach

One way original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their suppliers are tackling this predicament is by following a multi-layered security approach. An embedded firewall is a vital component of the multi-layered security, firewalls also contribute to the overall safety and reliability of the vehicle.

Serious progress has been made securing connected cars from cybersecurity threats. This new white paper, Strategies to Secure Connected Cars with Firewalls covers the latest techniques using the latest technology to cyber “bullet-proof” the connected car.

Read this white paper now.

Why you should read this paper

This is a comprehensive paper that covers more than embedded firewalls. Although it does go into great detail on how to build firewalls using the latest AUTOSAR standardized architecture. Just a few of the topics include:

  • The software security threats of today
  • Automotive cybersecurity regulations
  • The basics behind automotive network security
  • The many attack surfaces
  • The role of Automotive Open System Architecture (AUTOSAR)

AUTOSAR and the multi-layered security approach

My hope is that you will take a moment to read this paper – and realize the importance and gravity of the situation. In order to be successful, those of us in the industry need to build in security methods that provide early detection. Why early detection? It’s because if a vehicle can “sense” when it’s being probed it can take the necessary measures before the threat is ever realized.

It’s also about configurability and standardization. Two extremely important aspects covered in this paper.

At Siemens we like to say – Where today meets tomorrow. It’s about making tomorrow’s technology available today. In the automotive realm we’re doing exactly that whether it’s ADAS, the electric car – even the autonomous car. We are making amazing strides.

Please take a moment to read this incredibly important paper.

May your future be bright!

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This article first appeared on the Siemens Digital Industries Software blog at https://blogs.sw.siemens.com/ee-systems/2021/02/08/how-to-secure-connected-cars-with-embedded-firewalls/