New IP adds hardware-based layer of security into CAN Bus

UltraSoC today announced a significant boost to its automotive cybersecurity offering with the launch of the CAN Sentinel; new IP that adds a much-needed hardware-based layer of security into CAN Bus, the global industry-standard interconnect for automotive manufacturers and OEMs. The UltraSoC CAN Sentinel resides on the bus, monitoring transactions with a vehicle’s electronic control units (ECUs), identifying suspicious activity, preventing malicious messages and silencing attacks.

CAN Sentinel is configurable with user-defined security rules, providing protection against common exploits such as frame spoofing, and allowing the system to be upgraded as the threat landscape evolves. Developed as part of the Secure-CAV Consortium of which UltraSoC is a leading member, it integrates with the wider UltraSoC secure embedded analytics and monitoring architecture, enabling the implementation of powerful system-wide cybersecurity protection.

Since its invention 30 years ago, the CAN (controller area network) bus has become ubiquitous in the automotive industry. More recently it has also become recognized as possibly the most serious security vulnerability in cars. A number of high-profile attacks – for example, the Miller-Valasek Jeep hack – have exploited its inherent lack of security features. Cybersecurity is an increasing concern for the automotive industry, being a prime cause of product recalls: estimated to have cost the industry $26 billion in 2016, when GM alone recalled 23 million vehicles in one year.

The launch of the CAN Sentinel follows hot on the heels of the UltraSoC Bus Sentinel, the first product in the company’s line-up of cybersecurity hardware. This was launched in late 2019 to simplify the embedding of a secure monitoring architecture into the heart of mission-critical and safety-critical devices, particularly in applications such as connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs). These new cybersecurity hardware IP products combine with UltraSoC’s secure embedded analytics architecture to provide a complete holistic embedded security solution.