Cyber Risks Can Slow Down Smart Mobility

About the job

Smart mobility relieves roads and protects the climate. However, it carries significant cyber risks if IoT security is not taken into account. The task of manufacturers and operators of connected applications for smart mobility is therefore to include the security factor throughout the entire lifecycle of products and systems. Learn in this blog post how connected traffic flows safely – reliably protected from cyber-attacks.

During peak traffic times, many cities are congested: passengers in public transport stand close together, cars are stuck in traffic jams, and parking spaces are all occupied. The solution promises smart mobility: intelligent traffic systems can relieve roads and people on the move in many ways. For example, by calculating the optimal route – taking into account all classic public transport, autonomous vehicles, and sharing offers of bikes, e-scooters or cars.

Perhaps the fastest commute in the morning consists of a combination of bus and bike and in the evening of tram and scooter? Because the optimal route can vary throughout the day: in a smart city, traffic is monitored, analysed and controlled using video cameras. The available means of transport are communicated in real time. Apps and navigation devices also show drivers the traffic load and suggest alternative routes where necessary. Not only people benefit from this: goods traffic also becomes faster, more efficient and more cost-effective.

First smart mobility projects in Switzerland

Compared to other countries, Switzerland is still in its infancy on this topic. However, various projects have already been implemented in recent years: for example, in Lucerne, a system was tested for the first time in Switzerland where traffic lights stay green longer depending on the current traffic load. Zurich public transport conducted a pilot project in which minibuses could be ordered on certain routes on demand via an app. In Geneva, autonomous on-demand buses are to operate from 2025. And the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) also want to install automatic counting systems in long-distance trains to achieve better occupancy forecasts.

These project examples show the advantages: smart mobility not only saves money, time and nerves, it also reduces traffic jams, uses energy more efficiently and improves air quality. The existing infrastructure is improved by targeted analysis of available data and the use of information and communication technologies. Last but not least, smoothly flowing traffic is safer from an accident perspective.

IoT security is central to smart mobility

As good as it sounds, smart mobility also carries risks. Due to the numerous connected sensors and actuators such as position data, pressure sensors in the road surface for traffic movements, CCTV cameras, light sensors or electricity meters, which can communicate wirelessly or wired via internet interfaces with corresponding gateways and data servers with analysis services, the requirements for cyber security increase. If hackers penetrate these technically connected IoT ecosystems and misuse components, human lives can quickly be endangered. In addition, important services can be paralysed by attackers, data manipulated and the respective providers extorted. What happens, for example, if criminals take control of a traffic light system or autonomously driving buses? Or if sensitive user data is stolen? The weakest link is almost always the entry point. For example, bike rental stations, on-board diagnostics (OBD) ports and "in-vehicle" networks in vehicles or the numerous smartphone apps are primarily targeted by attackers.

Smart mobility: manufacturers must act now

Therefore, manufacturers and operators must not neglect security in the devices used in the field of smart mobility. Both IT security and operational technology security, so-called OT security, must be ensured and coordinated. Today, however, this is often not the case: when developing their smart mobility products, manufacturers like to focus on features that offer customers added value. However, many limit themselves to communication transmission security when it comes to security – whether due to costs, lack of time or lack of expertise.

Product cyber security as a success factor

Involving secure connected components within the smart mobility ecosystem from the outset would be central. This includes, in addition to the aforementioned communication security, for example, hardware and software integrity, authentication of devices, their services and data, and much more. Product cyber security must be consistently considered throughout the entire product lifecycle, from the product idea to decommissioning.

This is made possible by the "security by design" principle, which must already be taken into account during the development of hardware and software. This guarantees that the systems have very high cyber resilience from the start and can adapt to changing cyber threats during their service life. The basis for this is a security concept on which the right decisions can be made in the development process and an optimal security architecture can be designed. Such a product offers a significant added value compared to conventional products. The "security by design" approach can greatly reduce the expensive purchase of additional external security components during operation (over the entire service life) – despite somewhat higher development costs. This holistic approach makes security not only comprehensive but also more cost-effective for the operator over the product's service life. For a manufacturer, this is a decisive sales argument!

Gain time-to-market with IoT security experts

For manufacturers of IoT products and systems for smart mobility, the question arises whether to build up the specific security competencies themselves or whether it makes sense to obtain the necessary know-how from IoT security experts. Those with little experience will have to invest heavily to build up the corresponding knowledge internally. In most cases, it is therefore worthwhile to involve experts in IoT security. This way, time-to-market is gained and products can be placed on the market much faster – and developers, designers and engineers can concentrate on their core tasks: for a future with secure, smart mobility.

"Make or buy?": What makes sense for your company when it comes to designing and implementing the security of your IoT product?