Safety and Security Are you sure your vehicles are safe?

Today, when discussing vehicles, we no longer talk primarily about engine power and displacement, but about data transmission and apps. The use of electronics for a wide variety of vehicle functions has steadily increased and continues to grow. This applies to multimedia applications and comfort features as well as to driver assistance systems during driving or working operations. The ongoing development towards electromobility and automated vehicles is further accelerating this trend.
Various electronic control units within the vehicle collect and exchange data with one another. Through the integration of vehicles into the digital world, services outside the vehicle are also utilized. Connections are established with the Internet, other vehicles, manufacturers, external companies, and infrastructure systems. Continuous communication takes place between different stakeholders with a wide range of data and purposes, whether to support drivers in their work, provide entertainment, or enable complex assistance functions and digital services.

Functional safety plays a crucial role in the development of these systems. It must be ensured that no person is endangered by a malfunction of the vehicle or any system installed within it. Manufacturers require a comprehensive safety strategy for their products. For safety-relevant components, the necessary safety integrity levels must be determined, and the application must be designed accordingly. Development processes must be capable of fulfilling the applicable standards. Through the consistent application of development methods and processes, extensive simulations and testing, as well as comprehensive documentation and traceability of all process steps, risks can be effectively managed, enabling the market introduction of functionally safe vehicles and machines.

In addition to this operational safety, information security also plays an increasingly important role. The greater the level of connectivity between systems, the higher the risk of external attacks. Whether such attacks are passive or manipulative is of secondary importance. The security and confidentiality of data are at stake. Manipulative attacks also pose the additional risk that system availability may be compromised, systems may become uncontrollable, or even remotely manipulated. However, even passive attacks can lead to unauthorized use of unprotected data.

Since the German language uses the single term "Sicherheit" for both aspects, the English terms Safety for operational safety and Security for information security are commonly used. As modern systems are connected to the Internet and exposed to threats originating from cyberspace, the term Cybersecurity has become the standard expression.

There is no doubt that cybersecurity is essential in today's digital world. Responsibility for cybersecurity extends beyond product development and manufacturing. Authentication, access control, and data encryption must remain effective throughout the entire product lifecycle. Cybersecurity is a continuous process that spans the entire service life of a product, as threat methods are constantly evolving.

Risk analyses are required to identify where potential threats must be mitigated and how vehicles can be protected against attacks. This requires the evaluation of all subsystems within the overall vehicle architecture.
Security engineering is like the foundation of a building. At first glance, it remains invisible, but only a building with a strong foundation can withstand the forces of nature. At Wölfle, we have been working on functional safety for many years while continuously addressing the new challenges of cybersecurity.

Choose the safe path—talk to us. Together, we will find the right solution.