Automotive Industry And Suppliers At Risk From Cyber Attack Incidents
- Written by : Ashton G. Curran
- Date Published : 2023-04-08
- Date Updated : 2023-04-08
- Category / Tag : articles
The automotive industry and its suppliers are increasingly facing cyber incidents, according to a new study by Trend Micro. The study analyzed more than 50 significant security incidents between January 2021 and June 2022 and found that all areas along the production and supply chain are affected, with suppliers being particularly at risk....
The study also identified high-risk areas of networked cars and made security forecasts for 2023.
The rapid development of the industry has led to security gaps, which can be dangerous for manufacturers, suppliers, and customers.
The study by VicOne, Trend Micro's subsidiary specializing in automotive cybersecurity, found that smaller suppliers are often less well protected against cyber attacks and take longer to recover.
This leads to production delays and failures.
Ransomware attacks are the greatest risk currently faced by the industry, with 43 companies being victims of such attacks during the study period.
Malware from the Conti family was used most frequently.
There were also nine data incidents, with customer information being stolen in 41.7% of cases and sensitive company information in 16.7%.
In the context of connected vehicles, Trend Micro identified three high-risk areas that are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks.
These include charging stations for e-cars, cloud APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), and remote keyless entry (RKE) systems.
These areas require manufacturers to have them on their agenda and to take steps to ensure they are well-secured.
The study also identified several security trends that security managers in the automotive industry should pay particular attention to in 2023.
These include ransomware continuing to impact the automotive supply chain, vulnerabilities in open source software components used in vehicle development, over-the-air attacks, malware infecting in-vehicle infotainment and telematics control systems, and cyber criminals exploiting OTA data transmission to compromise data flow or inject malicious code in software updates.
The automotive industry is under pressure to master the transformation to electromobility, which has picked up speed due to the energy crisis.
More and more electric cars are coming onto the streets, but the changes in the industry also increase the risk of security vulnerabilities.
Cyber criminals exploit vulnerabilities along the entire production and supply chain.
Therefore, it is crucial for the industry to take proactive steps to prevent cyber attacks and secure their supply chain.