Southfield, Michigan — September 28, 2016 — The era of the connected car brings new possibilities, but it also brings new risks. Cybersecurity is expected to be a growth industry in coming years, according to a new report from IHS Automotive.
There are nearly 112 million vehicles now connected around the world, according to the report. This means the global market for automotive cybersecurity is expected to grow exponentially, to approximately $759 million USD in 2023, according to the report, “Automotive Cybersecurity and Connected Car,” from IHS Automotive.
Connected cars are defined as those that have a connection to the internet, through telematics, an onboard modem or a paired device in the vehicle, such as a mobile phone or other device.
Vehicles are now more susceptible to cyberattacks through the many wireless and wired connections. According to the report, OEMs and suppliers are taking these threats seriously, with increased interest in developing and implementing cybersecurity solutions to address vulnerabilities and system design changes needed to accommodate them.
There are many software approaches to cybersecurity in the car. According to the report, the automotive cybersecurity market will consist of two distinct segments. Some cybersecurity software programs will be installed on to the many electronic control units (ECUs) present in a modern vehicle.
The other segment will be cybersecurity cloud services. These cloud services will track and manage whole fleets of vehicles through management service software that will note and assess irregularities, allowing carmakers to identify unauthorized attempts to attack or alter their vehicles. Most cars will have multiple cybersecurity software programs to protect the key ECUs in the car.
“Cybersecurity will be one of the toughest challenges that the auto industry will face in the next decade or two,” says Colin Bird, one of the report’s co-authors. “Especially as more vehicles with telematics and embedded modems make connected cars an attractive target to cyber criminals, terrorists and nation states.”
IHS Markit estimates that, as a whole, up to 50 percent of a vehicle’s total development cost today is related to software or electronic components. A typical modern vehicle runs 20 to 30 million lines of code on 50 to 60 ECUs. Luxury vehicles may contain up to 50 million lines of code and up to 100 ECUs.
