Three key automotive cyber threats and how to tackle them

As vehicles evolve into “computers on wheels,” cybersecurity threats are becoming a major concern. While connectivity and innovation drive progress, they also expose vehicles to cyber risks, from data breaches to system hijacking. Protecting sensitive information and securing vehicle systems is crucial for OEMs to ensure safety, resilience, and consumer trust. Here are three critical automotive cybersecurity threats:

Despite the move towards the software-defined vehicle, ECUs will remain an important part of future E/E architectures. While critical to vehicle safety, they are vulnerable to cyber threats such as remote hijacking via CAN bus access and weak authentication. Attackers can exploit online updates without physical access. Legacy ECU software struggles to keep pace with evolving threats, increasing the risks.

To combat this, a holistic security framework is required that integrates virtual machines, hardware security modules, trusted execution environments, firewalls and intrusion detection to protect vehicles throughout their lifecycle.

The complexity of automotive supply chains and aftermarket services introduces cybersecurity risks. Multiple stakeholders and upgradeable components create gateways for cyber attacks. Attackers exploit vulnerabilities, particularly in over-the-air (OTA) updates, which allow remote software modification but also expose vehicles to malware and data breaches.

To mitigate risk, OEMs must enforce strict security standards along the supply chain, implement robust software update management systems (SUMS), and secure wireless connectivity to prevent unauthorized access.

As vehicles become more connected through V2X (vehicle-to-everything) technologies, cybersecurity risks increase. Threats include unauthorized updates, compromised charging stations, and weak data security in third-party cloud services. Expanding connectivity increases exposure to cyberattacks and data misuse.

To address these challenges, OEMs must implement end-to-end security across the vehicle lifecycle, ecosystem, and supply chain, to ensure robust data protection and secure development processes.

For more information on how to meet the challenges of vehicle security, visit our website and read our white paper, Automotive Cybersecurity Fully Revealed.