How Automotive Software Development Is Boosting Security & Innovation

Over the past year, the way people think transportation has changed dramatically. While private vehicles increasingly replaced public transit, car owners became more aware of automotive technology. With the health crisis intensifying our sense of safety, carmakers, like most other companies, have rethinking technology. And that’s where automotive software development comes into the picture. In terms of technology, the auto industry was ahead of others even before the pandemic. The health crisis accelerated the pace of tech innovations in the industry.

Connected vehicles have been the biggest trend in the auto industry for the past couple of years. Leading market research firms predict that there will be hundreds of millions of connected vehicles on the road over the coming years. Carmakers and consumers alike are increasingly embracing technologies that make vehicles more computerized. It has led to the growing use of AI and ML in automotive software engineering to improve driving experiences. Let’s dive deeper and find out how automotive software development is evolving rapidly.

Key Considerations Automotive Software Development

Connectivity has emerged as the top priority in automotive software development of all kinds. And with connectedness comes security concerns. That’s why cyber security services have grown dominant in the automotive software market.

Tech innovations

More and more automakers are using safety-critical electronic car units (ECUs). These are based on AutoSAR that communicates between systems using technologies like CAN bus, FlexRay, or other methods optimized for automobiles. However, some of these technologies create security vulnerabilities. Automotive software development vendors need to consider these vulnerabilities to ensure security.

Connectivity enhancements

OEMs across markets are scaling up the incorporation of automotive connectivity solutions. Be it Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or NFC, connectivity methods have become commonplace across automobile models. But with the growing use of wireless connectivity, vehicles are also getting more vulnerable to threats.

New methods of automotive software engineering are trying increasingly to address all such threats. That’s why automobile companies need to use the most advanced breed of software solutions to protect their customers and brand reputation.

Design complexity

The software development process plays a crucial role in both protecting car owners and ensuring advanced features. That means automotive software developers need to be extraordinarily careful about risks and vulnerabilities. That’s why automotive software engineering is meticulously monitored to avoid design and security-related risks.

Top Security Threats to Automotive Software

From design elements to software testing and tech frameworks, security vulnerabilities span a wide spectrum.

Design and architecture flaws

Software design and architecture-related issues occur in the code logic itself. While software systems operate per the code logic, they also expose solutions to risks due to problems like mishandling.

Implementation issues

Implementation vulnerabilities are caused when developers don’t implement the system logic properly. It leads to data corruption, causing the software to behave unusually.

Common weakness enumeration

Common weakness enumerations are vulnerabilities that are not associated with a specific application. These could include design and implementation, accidental exposure to malicious elements, integer overflow, and improper authentication, among other things.

Wrapping up

Demands for even more evolved and secure automotive software are likely to remain high in the coming years. With more and more consumers looking for connected cars, the industry must stay on the edge of automotive software development and implementation. As car owners get more concerned about data privacy, security too will remain a top priority of carmakers.