Geneva Motor Show: WISeKey Extends Contracts with Leading Automobile Makers to Secure Connected Cars Using Trusted Cybersecurity IoT Technologies

Strong demand in the German Automotive Sector with additional leading automobile manufacturers joining WISeKey’s customer base; WISeKey QuoVadis already provides PKI Services to a growing number of multinational corporations including Bosch, Siemens, Daimler AG, Rhode und Schwarz and VW Group

Geneva – March 12, 2018 – WISeKey International Holding Ltd (“WISeKey” SIX: WIHN), a leading Swiss cybersecurity and IoT company, announced today during the Geneva Motor Show that it has added several leading European automobile manufacturers into its customer base for cybersecurity services, thus  cementing its role in the Connected Car sector. The new agreements include integration of WISeKey’s IoT and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) in the manufacturers’ connected car solutions allowing them to authenticate legitimate car components and enabling owners to securely interact with the car’s smart features.

Currently, WISeKey QuoVadis provides PKI Services to a growing number of multinational corporations including Bosch, Siemens, Daimler AG, Rhode und Schwarz and VW Group.  Additionally, WISeKey is working with several smart car manufacturers and its ISTANA PKI platform is already active in several large-scale projects.

Virtually all new cars on the market today include electronic technologies that could pose vulnerabilities to hacking or privacy intrusions if data security is not addressed. For example, smart cars without cybersecurity protection technology could allow hackers to gain remote access by exploiting vulnerabilities in their ecosystem of connected components and online services. As the number of cars connected to the Internet is growing quickly (to over a quarter of a billion by year 2020, as estimated by Gartner), smart car manufactures are working to identify and reduce potential hacking vulnerabilities in their vehicles.  BI Intelligence expects 94 million connected cars to be sold in 2021, and for 82% of all cars sold during that year to be connected. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 35%, from 21 million connected cars in 2016.

In recent years, the security protections of smart cars have expanded using proven IoT technologies. There is increased use of “secure element” chips provided by WISeKey Semiconductor to authenticate individual car components within the vehicle itself and to the online services it interacts with, and to ensure that only legitimate software is installed in the car. WISeKey ISTANA platform allows smart car manufactures to validate the authenticity of different vehicle components.  Certificate-based security also protects onboard communication between vehicle components and enables secure over-the-air software updates.  Additionally, authentication certificates can be used by employees, dealers and suppliers to access car components to diagnose mechanical/technical issues and update software, from any location.  Finally, the ISTANA PKI platform allows users to securely interact with a car’s smart features using smartphones and other devices.

A fundamental principle behind the security of WISeKey Semiconductors is that its chips not only control how devices perform under normal conditions, but also control how these devices react when attacked or tampered with in any way, including self-destruction.

“As cars continue to evolve, essentially becoming motorized computers, they are vulnerable to the very same threats and attacks as home computers, laptops and smartphones. Unless appropriate cybersecurity measures are implemented, hackers can remotely access the vehicle’s computer system, manipulate the brakes, engine, and transmission. Our technology is designed to help verify legitimate car systems, protect the data they create and avoid malicious hacking,” said Carlos Moreira, CEO WISeKey.

WISeKey has a strong presence in the IoT market with both its widely-used VaultIC chips and PKI across a variety of industries ranging from luxury products to telecommunications hardware to the automotive sector.

WISeKey’s solutions reduce potential security threats by:

• Providing IoT “secure element” chips – essentially a small smartcard – from WISeKey Semiconductor that can be embedded into different components of the car to enhance the security of their electronic functions.
• Providing highly-scalable and reliable PKI from WISeKey and QuoVadis to create the electronic credentials that assert the identity of device or authorized users and enable encryption to protect data or software integrity. These PKI solutions are highly adaptable to both the “lightweight” technology needs of IoT and the changing attributes of IoT devices over time after the vehicle has left the car factory.
• In short, the WISeKey IoT solutions provide a benefit both to the manufacturer in cost-effectively protecting the security of car components and their related online services, and for drivers in securing the massive of data produced by smart cars in daily use – which includes significant detail on the driver’s personal behavior and movements, similar to that produced by a smartphone.

About WISeKey:

WISeKey (SIX Swiss Exchange: WIHN) is a leading global cybersecurity company for Managed Public Key Infrastructure, Internet of Things, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence. The group’s WISeKey Semiconductors is a leader in embedded security solutions for mobile and connected devices. WISeKey and QuoVadis are global leaders in providing electronic identity and electronic signature solutions, including options for custom IoT certification authorities as well as the OISTE Swiss based Root of Trust (RoT). For more information, visit www.wisekey.com.

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