Automotive Engineering - May 2024 - 6

TECHNOLOGY
REPORT
CONNECTIVITY
Cybersecurity firm enlists AI in battle as threats increase
Upstream
founder Yoav
Levy says the
company's
new AI tool
was a natural
response
to hackers
leveraging AI
to produce
more creative
attacks, more
frequently.
SAE INTERNATIONAL
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Carla Bailo
President
Robert Ireland
2025 President
Todd Zarfos
2023 President
Christopher Payne
Vice President - Aerospace
Daniel Nicholson
Vice President - Automotive
Audley Brown
Vice President -
Commercial Vehicle
Following its annual report detailing the growing
cybersecurity threats to vehicles, fleets,
and the networks they rely on, Upstream
Security announced the launch of a generative
AI tool to enhance its ability to reduce the risk
posted by global threats.
Israel-based Upstream, which has a vehicle
security operations center (VSOC) in Ann Arbor,
Mich., monitors millions of connected vehicles
and Internet of Things (IoT) devices and billions
of API transactions monthly. Ocean AI is built
into the company's detection and response platform,
called M-XDR, enabling its analysts, as
well as those from OEMs and IoT vendors, to
efficiently detect threat patterns and automate
investigations before prioritizing a response.
The AI allows users to ask natural-language
questions about the vast data sets generated
by connected vehicles, various onboard security
and infotainment systems, charging networks,
individual terminals, and more.
Upstream founder and CEO Yoav Levy said
at a media event in Ann Arbor that AI is a response
to hackers' increasing use of generative
AI. These hackers can identify and exploit vulnerabilities
faster than ever and against entire
fleets of vehicles. " This calls for a new mindset
for the entire automotive and smart mobility
ecosystem, " he said.
Orit Gross, Upstream's senior director of product,
said that its VSOC teams analyze up to thousands
of alerts daily across large fleets and from
the entire ecosystem, which includes vehicle data,
telematics, API traffic, IoT data and more. " Ocean
AI helps dramatically reduce the complexity of
investigations and time-to-remediation. "
The M-XDR's primary responsibilities are:
6 May 2024
* Risk analysis: Using live and historical data to
identify patterns and anomalies.
* Alert filtering and prioritization: This tracks
the severity of alerts, including detecting
sudden surges in high-security alerts. That's
key for prioritizing responses, such as dealing
with an unauthorized over-the-air software
update with more urgency than an item
affecting a single vehicle, such as an unlockdoor
request from an unusual IP address.
* Investigation and automation: As more is
learned about particular threats, the AI can
help build and trigger automated responses,
decreasing the time between event detection
and reaching secure status.
Responses to detected threats and attacks
can come directly from Upstream or be handled
by the OEMs or network operators, depending
on the contract. " Our work is largely
collaborative, " Levy said during a previously
held tour of the Ann Arbor VSOC. He said that
includes sharing intelligence with the security
community at large when warranted.
A bracing state-of-cybersecurity
report
The announcement follows the release of
Upstream's sobering assessment of the state of
vehicle cybersecurity, from which the two biggest
takeaways were:
* Organized hackers are generally moving
from attacking individual vehicles or IoT
points (like chargers) to attempting largescale
attacks on fleets and networks.
* The potential cost of cyberattacks to the
automotive and smart-mobility ecosystem
David Andrea
Treasurer
David L. Schutt, Ph.D
Chief Executive Officer
Gregory L. Bradley, Esq.
Secretary
Judy Curran
Mary Lee Gambone
Joan Wills
Susan Ying, Ph.D
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information, please visit sae.org/sections
or contact SAE Member Relations Specialist
Abby Hartman at abby.hartman@sae.org.
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Collegiate Chapters
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International Student Members to get
together on their campus and develop
skills in a student-run and -elected
environment. Student Members are vital
to the continued success and future of
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you the engineering knowledge you
need, participation in your SAE Collegiate
Chapter can develop or enhance other
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more information, please visit students.
sae.org/chapters/collegiate/ or contact
SAE Member Relations Specialist Abby
Hartman at abby.hartman@sae.org.
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
UPSTREAM
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Automotive Engineering - May 2024

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