Bringing security to connected vehicles

22nd June 2018

Gemalto

Lanna Deamer

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With the anticipation of the launch from Faraday Future of its first intelligent electric car, Gemalto has announced it is providing the data security and encryption technology that will help protect the software that powers the car and data collected from everyday use of its cars. Connected and autonomous cars have been in the works for years, but the futuristic technology is now becoming a reality, with Gartner estimating that there will be a quarter of a billion connected cars on the road by 2020.

Alongside connectivity, security has been a key issue in both development and deployment, especially given the complexity of the car itself.

Faraday Future is working to deploy Gemalto SafeNet Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) and professional services to build and secure the public key infrastructure (PKI) that will generate digital certificates used to authenticate the communication between the car, the backend systems and people. The PKI system can also store these certificates in a central repository, share them with other stakeholders and revoke them if needed.

Every step of data flow is protected, like in-car services such as over-the-air software updates and transport of data from the car, without making the data vulnerable to cyber attacks. In the future of autonomous cars and smart cities, the PKI system will prevent hackers from intercepting data passed to other cars, garages, parking meters or other connected infrastructure. Hackers also won’t be able to spoof authenticated access to the car itself.

Gemalto is working with Faraday Future to design, configure and deploy a private Microsoft Certificate Authority that will integrate into their existing architecture. Gemalto’s FIPS certified SafeNet HSMs are expected to be installed with Faraday Future’s internal server and are specifically designed to process, store and manage cryptographic keys inside a hardened, tamper-resistant device, making them an anchor for trusted access to networks and individual vehicle data.

“Car manufacturers must design for security, otherwise the promise of connected cars becomes vulnerable,” said Kate Migon, Head of Automotive Americas for Gemalto. “By working with Faraday Future, we aim to make security a standard for vehicle systems as they evolve.”

“Gemalto’s worldwide expertise in security opened the door for this relationship, and the reliability of their HSMs and high quality of support – with a dedicated team to deploy services – sealed the deal,” said Connie Zhao, Sr. Director of Vehicle Software at Faraday Future. “With these security measures in place, Faraday Future aims to release our first connected car soon, providing citizens with the convenience and trust needed on the road.”