2024-04-11 11:35:25
Cyber attacks are the biggest threat to the automotive business
Car theft and the associated headaches for owners, insurers, dealers and manufacturers seem like minor problems compared to the avalanche of cyberattacks. For modern car thieves, car theft is out of fashion and is “small” money compared to what can be made by breaching the security of modern vehicles.
Cyber-attacks are emerging as one of the biggest problems in the automotive business, which has yet to invest heavily in protecting its vehicles. The global automotive cybersecurity market size is expected to reach a whopping $11.17 billion by 2030, according to the latest research report by US-based Skyquest.
With the increasing digitization and connectivity of cars, as well as trends for electromobility and autonomous driving
the need for an effective cyber security strategy is growing
From there, the money that car manufacturers have to invest will skyrocket.
Modern cars are becoming more connected and autonomous, and are becoming more vulnerable to cyber attacks. These attacks
can allow attackers to take control
over cars, steal data or cause other damage.
According to a study by industry association Bitkom, cyber attacks by organized crime and foreign countries have increased significantly worldwide. The theft of data, the damage or destruction of IT equipment, as well as industrial espionage and sabotage have caused damage of around 206 billion euros to the German economy, for example.
As the German car industry is, on the one hand, a mainstay of the local economy and, on the other hand, linked in an international network and dependent on the global sales market, it is particularly threatened by this development. As a result, the problem of computer attacks has manifested itself on a large scale in the automotive sector and is expected to continue to an increasing extent.
VicOne, a provider of cyber security solutions for the automotive industry, explains the current risks and opportunities and shows solutions for greater cyber security.
More and more car companies
suffer from cyber attacks along the chain of production and delivery
These attacks affect various levels of the industry, from suppliers to retailers, and show that cybersecurity issues arise at almost every stage of production.
In January of this year, a security breach occurred at Hyundai Motor Europe, based in Germany. The company detected suspicious activity on its network from an external intrusion. According to IT website BleepingComputer, cybercriminals from BlackBasta carried out the attack in early January and claimed to have stolen 3 terabytes of data. BlackBasta is believed to be an offshoot of the infamous Conti ransomware group, which has been involved in numerous high-profile cyberattacks and poses a high level of threat to organizations around the world.
Automotive parts and components suppliers are among the most frequently targeted targets, with a share of almost 90 percent. These cyberattacks are always successful, and hackers often steal vast amounts of data, which they then offer on the dark web. Cybercriminals
it is often difficult for them to break into well-protected companies,
so instead they target less vigilant companies.
Attacks on suppliers mean that production is halted during these incidents. How important suppliers and their products are for automotive companies in times of “just in time” and lack of stocks is repeatedly demonstrated with practical examples.
In 2023, Volkswagen had to shift its production in Wolfsburg at least partially to reduced hours, as parts were not available from a supplier in Slovenia due to production losses related to the floods there. At VW’s Portuguese plants, car production had to be completely stopped for more than a month due to missing parts.
In this case, bad weather was responsible for the delays and cancellations. But a successful cyberattack can have consequences just as serious, if not worse, because it often can’t be localized like a flood or storm. The costs of such lost production are often significant. Or as they say in the automotive industry – “even if just one small gear in the gearbox fails, the entire engine often stops working properly or not at all”.
Compared to the big players in the automotive industry
smaller providers and service providers in particular are often less protected
from cyber-attacks as they often do not have the necessary specialist knowledge, personnel or financial resources to adequately defend themselves. They also typically take longer to recover from successful cyber attacks. These attacks often lead not only to production delays and even failures, but also to a loss of image and trust among customers and partners.
An example of this is the cyber attack against technology provider Kendrion. In one of its halls, the company manufactures, among other things, noise simulators to make otherwise near-silent electric cars easier to hear. The hackers threatened to publish the company’s data if Kendrion did not pay a ransom. The company itself does not exclude the possibility that unauthorized persons have indeed stolen data. After the attack, Kendrion contacted the police, shut down all systems and sought help from leading cybersecurity experts. The company dealt openly with the hacker attack on its site, unlike a number of others who do not want to expose themselves to customers and partners. According to its own statements, the technology provider has been operating in emergency mode for some time and has had to send many of its 300 employees home.
Several technology areas in the automotive and supplier industries are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks. One of these is charging stations for electric cars, which are often easy targets for hackers because electric cars typically use lithium-polymer batteries and require complex, intelligent control mechanisms to function properly.
An electric car has more sensors and uses more communication protocols than a conventional internal combustion car.
Security vulnerabilities may occur
especially when exchanging data with the charging station.
Cloud APIs (application programming interfaces) are also vulnerable. Most connected cars today have built-in SIM cards called eSIMS that allow them to communicate with a cloud server. This allows, for example, apps to lock and unlock the car remotely or exchange trip data with other road users. An important component of this network architecture is the cloud API, which must therefore be particularly well protected. However, the automotive industry often uses vehicle-specific cloud APIs that can have vulnerabilities.
Keyless entry systems (Remote Keyless Entry, RKE) are also easily decoded by the rank-and-file Auto-Apache. RKE systems make it possible to unlock the car and start the engine without having to physically insert a key into the ignition. This usually works using a radio frequency (RF) signal. However, there are numerous vulnerabilities in such RKE systems that attackers can easily exploit to illegally open the car, take items from it, or even steal the vehicle. Although these problems have been known for a long time, they have not yet been fully resolved.
Popular models are being discontinued due to new EU rules
Several car companies are halting production of older models due to new EU cyber security rules.
The new requirements are for a certified system to prevent hacker attacks. Apart from everything else
the entire fleet must be able to detect and protect
against cyber attacks and secure software updates should be provided. The requirements will come into force from the beginning of July.
The stricter requirements are in force for newly developed models from mid-2022, for the old ones there was a two-year transition period, which has now expired. Manufacturers must then prove that there was a certified management system in place to prevent hacker attacks when the cars were developed.
Volkswagen has announced that it will remove the Up small car and the T6.1 transporter from its range. Only the T6.1 California version of the camper has final order options as the new camper rules come into effect on September 1st. The head of the VW brand Schaefer justified the measure with too much effort to adapt the models to the new specifications. According to Stefan Bratzel of the Center for Automotive Management (CAM) in Bergisch Gladbach, the costs of a model would be several million euros.
The Porsche Macan SUV and the 718 Cayman and 718 Boxster sports cars will also disappear from the European market by the end of June due to the new EU law.
Three other manufacturers are also phasing out well-known models. However, they assured that this has nothing to do with the new EU directive, a
the cars have simply reached the end of their life cycle
The Audi TT coupe and the sporty R8 can no longer be ordered from Audi. Renault is saying goodbye to its electric veteran Zoe, and Smart is no longer selling the Smart EQ Fortwo.
More and more cars are “online”, using the internet for various functions such as navigation, semi-autonomous driving and software updates. This means that they can become a target for hackers in the same way as a computer, laptop or mobile device that is connected to the Internet.
A spectacular case from 2015 that ADAC listed on its website showed that
The danger of car hacking has long been real
At that time, the “attackers” in the USA drove a jeep into a ditch with the help of a laptop. However, the hackers were not on a criminal mission, but rather simply wanted to show how vulnerable the technology installed by Jeep was. They hacked into the car’s controls through the entertainment system. At the time, the driver was a journalist from the American magazine Wired, and the passengers in the car were informed in advance about the hacker attack.