Solutions

Establishing a security framework is also crucial for organizations involved in the development and design of connected cars. It is necessary to identify the security risks surrounding the connected car solutions – including the organizational structure – and implement measures appropriate to those risks.
In the automotive industry and other IoT domains, the key to a security governance framework is the ISMS (Information Security Management System) approach. Since its founding, Asgent has been deeply involved with ISO/IEC 27001, providing not only certification support but also consulting services to a wide range of organizations. Drawing on this experience, we help build strong security frameworks that take into account the specific requirements and regulations of the automotive industry.

Vehicles are equipped with numerous ECUs (Electronic Control Units), which control a wide range of functions such as the engine, brakes, and door locks. By sending unauthorized messages to an ECU, an attacker could potentially take control of functions such as braking or acceleration. For this reason, ECUs require dedicated security measures. In addition, unlike conventional IT systems, ECUs must operate in real time, which places strict constraints on security mechanisms—for example, intrusion detection cannot take a long time to complete. Asgent’s ECU security solution, XGuard Integrity, applies security directly to the ECU during the manufacturing process. It protects against hacking without the false positives that can occur with other security products. In addition, because it does not require security updates and imposes extremely low overhead during operation, it helps prevent serious security risks before they can materialize.

The ECUs installed in a vehicle are connected through a CAN (Controller Area Network), which enables the exchange of data used to control a wide range of functions, including the engine, transmission, brakes, and air conditioning. To protect vehicles from physical hacking and unauthorized communications sent from unapproved ECUs, it is therefore necessary to authenticate in-vehicle communications and ensure their security. However, in-vehicle networks are already heavily utilized, leaving little capacity to process additional authentication data that would consume network throughput. Asgent’s authentication solution, SafeCAN, introduces no network overhead, enabling CAN bus communications to be authenticated without imposing excessive load.

Mobile devices are becoming indispensable to connected cars, for example by enabling users to operate in-vehicle infotainment systems from their smartphones. For this reason, mobile applications need to be hardened against attacks. Asgent’s solution applies various protection measures when applications are built, including code obfuscation and string encryption. In addition, multiple mechanisms are incorporated to detect and prevent attacks, helping to create robust applications that are difficult to compromise.