TUV Rheinland Cooperates with VisualThreat

Global testing and inspection service provider employs new technology for cyber security testing of vehicles

COLOGNE, Germany, Sept. 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- TUV Rheinland and VisualThreat announced a strategic partnership aimed at helping the automotive industry test, detect and remediate the increasing cyber security threats targeting next generation vehicles. VisualThreat's cyber security technology and TUV Rheinland's testing facilities and experience will provide automotive industry and component manufacturers with complete testing services to ensure their automotive products are secure from cyberattacks and meet industry standards for secure performance.

"Combining our expertise in automotive safety and security testing, we are one of the first organizations chosen by ENX to test against automotive information security standards", explained Frank Luzsicza, Executive Vice President, Information and Communication Technology, TUV Rheinland Group. Based on the Trusted Information Security Assessment Exchange (TISAX), TUV Rheinland is entitled by ENX to verify that manufacturers and service providers within the automotive supply chain meet the VDA ISA information security standard. "Now employing VisualThreat's cyber security testing framework, we will expand our comprehensive vehicle security testing services from our testing labs worldwide to accelerate innovation and raise the standard in cyber security testing of next generation vehicles", said Frank Luzsicza.

Cyber Security Testing in a Changing Threat Landscape

"Cyber security testing focuses on finding unwanted weaknesses or vulnerabilities hiding inside the vehicle software", said Wei Yan, CEO at VisualThreat. "We offer an automated and black-box testing tool for OEMs and tier providers to test their vehicles or ECUs with repeatable results and requiring no prior detailed knowledge of the testing workflow." VisualThreat's Automotive Cybersecurity Testing Framework contains more than 30 testing checkpoints from the following categories: CAN bus probing, individual ECU testing, and CAN communication testing among several ECUs.

With advances in digitization, vehicle equipment becomes smarter as well: from control panels over MRO programs to classic GPS -- vehicles contain a significant number of smart functions that enable them to work independently on many levels and are connected internally and externally. As every smart product, the connected car therefore becomes a target for cyberattacks. Due to the lack of security controls, connected-car solutions might introduce new threats to the vehicle. Those risks range from simply unauthorized data capture to more serious offenses such as vehicle or property theft, criminally malicious hijacking or even the possibility of remotely overriding critical systems and control, resulting in severe accidents. "Through our strategic partnership with VisualThreat we will deepen our services to prevent cyberattacks in vehicles and ultimately increase the safety of next generation vehicles on the roads", concluded Frank Luzsicza.

TUV Rheinland is a global leader in independent inspection services and currently the largest independent service provider that combines ICT competency with comprehensive expertise regarding the industry, and whose core business has been to provide technical safety and security to people and the environment around the world for more than 140 years.

The group maintains a worldwide presence with 19,600 employees; annual turnover is nearly EUR 1.9 billion. The independent experts stand for quality and safety for people, technology and the environment in nearly all aspects of life. TUV Rheinland inspects technical equipment, products and services, oversees projects and helps to shape processes for companies. For more than 15 years, TUV Rheinland has been supporting the private and public sector with comprehensive consulting and solution expertise in IT, cyber security and telecommunications through digital transformation processes.