Vehicle security will gain momentum in the coming years and will become an important parameter in future mobility, as vehicles become increasingly more complex due to the massive growth of electronics and software content.
Participating in the first edition of “Making Mobility Safe, Secure” organised by Mobility Outlook, experts representing various stakeholders in the safety and security business voiced strong opinions about how safety driven automotive security, although complex, deserves every attention from manufacturers.
The inaugural session was addressed by Dr Seshu Bhagavathula, Director of the Board and Advisor to the Management at Volta Trucks, and Strategic Advisor for Jebsen Capital as well as Prashanth Doreswamy, Country Head – Continental India & Managing Director – Continental Automotive (India).
Dr Bhagavathula pointed out a key differentiation between vehicle safety and vehicle security. Unlike vehicle safety, which can be classified as active or passive, vehicle security is still at a nascent stage, he said.
Vehicles can be sold today based on the level of safety provided but in security, there is no such classification. However, due to rising electronics and software, security will become an important part of future mobility, and consumers will demand more safe and secure vehicles.
Increasing levels of connected technologies in vehicles have made security all the more important, Dr Bhagavathula said. “A high-end car like the BMW 7 Series or Mercedes-Benz S-Class has more than 100 ECUs. It is possible today to take over a vehicle’s control by something outside the vehicle. Long-range connectivity like 4G is the most dangerous threat to a vehicle’s security,” he said.
Automotive safety and security are bonded together, he concluded.
Echoing his views, Doreswamy pointed out that vehicles are transforming from a mode of transport to mobile living areas due to which security will gain prominence as much as safety now.
Vehicles are becoming more complex computers as by 2026 it is expected that a vehicle will have one million lines of codes. With so much data and communication, manufacturers should work towards the security of vehicles, Doreswamy said.
Understanding About Safety, Security
Meanwhile, Mobility Outlook undertook a study to understand “Safety Behaviour of Indian consumers, and their perception about vehicle security”, which received an overwhelming response with participation of over 2.7 lakh people from across the country.
The study, which was corroborated by Validation Partner, Frost & Sullivan, revealed very interesting insights on what consumers think about safety and security. For instance, 30% of respondents believe security features should be standard in vehicles, while 27% respondents were not even aware/ sure of safety ratings – a significant cause for concern. One of the questions we asked respondents was about their perception about OEMs that offer maximum security features. Respondents believed Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Honda Cars offer the maximum security features in their vehicles, much above what premium manufacturers offer or even an OEM like Mahindra, which has multiple models in the Top 10 safe cars list in India.
While that may sound astonishing, Kaushik Madhavan, Vice President – Mobility, Frost & Sullivan, South Asia highlighted that most manufacturers do not advertise or market safety adequately. It is extremely important that safety and security are talked about so consumers get more aware of their advantages.
Other Sessions
A technical session followed the release of the study, with Lalita Diksangi, Senior Staff Engineer – Application, Infineon Technologies India presenting on “Safety Concept in Aurix Microcontrollers’.
Technical presentations were also shared by Shrikant Satyanarayan, Sr Technical Manager, LDRA India on “Standards Driven Development for Safety and Security; Mr Khushwant Pawar, Head, Cyber Security Solutions – Mobility, Regional Market India, ETAS Automotive on “Preparing for Safe and Secure Mobility” and Animesh Kumar Sahay, Head of Customers – India and SEA, HERE Technologies on “Shaping the future of Mobility in India through the Lens of Here Technologies”.
In the final session, a distinguished panel representing various industry stakeholders deliberated on “Safety-driven automotive security – Decoding the industry's approach”. The session was moderated by Praveen Sasidharan, Partner, Deloitte India with Sivakumar Songappan, Director – Global DI Platform Software Development, Visteon India; Mr Anantha Krishnan, Senior Director – Engineering, HARMAN India; Satish Sundaresan, Managing Director, India & Vice President, Product Development – ADAS Validation, Elektrobit and Ujwala Karle, Deputy Director – Technology Group, ARAI as the panellists.
The event was supported by Infineon Technologies and LDRA.