Steps to strengthen Cybersecurity for Automobile Industry

By CIOReview | Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Technology trends are on an upsurge in recent years. Industries are trying hard to use the technology to make an efficient and advanced system. The sudden surge in technology has emphasized on the need of an able cybersecurity tool to prevent any malpractices. Companies need to perform thorough risk assessment and update their systems regularly, as old and outdated tools have more chances of getting compromised. Automotive companies have also embarked on using the technology tools to provide their customers with better user experience. FEV is closely associated with performing risk assessments of vulnerable surfaces like Bluetooth, WI-Fi, cellular communications, and many other ports. This helps them to pre-empt any potential attack on a system and calculate the after-effects of the attack. Companies can also prioritize high-risk areas which require immediate action and can plan to tackle the low-risk areas later on.

Following many other industries like aviation, auto industry leaders like Auto Alliance, Global Automakers and many other automakers partnered together to form an alliance to share useful information called Automotive Information Sharing and Analysis (Auto-ISAC) in 2014. The purpose of creating an Auto-ISAC was to outline the best cybersecurity practices for the industry to follow. These practices are helping the companies to stay up-to-date with the recent technologies.

The growing need to secure systems from cyber attacks has raised the concern whether the best practices are enough to ensure security or should there be a law to ensure safety. Many markets have laws to have safety features like airbags and seat belts compulsorily in their automobiles. Cybersecurity laws cannot be like laws for seat belts and airbags as the laws need to be updated on a regular basis or the systems might have a greater chance to get compromised. Every few days there is a new security threat, and companies need to revoke any potential vulnerability on a regular basis. A dynamic security law is required to keep up with the threats.