Symantec Launches New IoT Solution to Help Carmakers Protect Against Zero Day Attacks

New Anomaly Detection for Automotive Offering Expands Company’s IoT Portfolio

Symantec IoT solutions for connected cars. (Photo: Business Wire)

DETROIT--()--Symantec Corp. (NASDAQ: SYMC), the global leader in cybersecurity, today introduced Symantec Anomaly Detection for Automotive to protect against zero-day attacks and never-before-seen issues facing modern connected vehicles. Bringing Symantec’s extensive security and sophisticated analytics expertise across complex networks to the vehicle, Anomaly Detection for Automotive provides the crucial ability to identify issues for early remediation.

Connected cars offer drivers conveniences such as navigation, remote roadside assistance and mobile internet hot spots. There will be 220 million connected cars on the road in 2020, according to Gartner.1 While new technologies promise to enhance the driving experience, these advancements also create avenues of attack for hackers that can endanger drivers and passengers.

Symantec Anomaly Detection for Automotive uses machine learning to provide passive in-vehicle security analytics that monitor all Controller Area Network (CAN) bus traffic without disrupting vehicle operations, learn what normal behavior is and flag anomalous activity that may indicate an attack. The solution works with virtually any automotive make and model.

“The Internet of Things contains many different areas, but connected automobiles will radically alter transportation and mobile communications,” said Christian Christiansen, IDC VP of Security Products. “As connected automobiles become the norm, security issues have already drawn attention. Driven by opportunity, manufacturers and their suppliers will partner with cybersecurity vendors on securing connected cars as they would with any other networked endpoints such as mobile devices and laptops. Keeping security top of mind will not only help ensure the safety of drivers and passengers but also build trust in the car manufactures and the overall Internet of Things ecosystem.”

Key benefits of Symantec Anomaly Detection for Automotive include:

  • Learning the vehicle’s behavior in a deeper, more precise way, enabling automakers to see previously unseen attacks.
  • Automatically prioritizing incidents based on perceived criticality and risk.
  • Automatically detecting anomalies without requiring manufacturers to set rules or create policies.
  • Using minimal memory and CPU power with an analytics solution built from the ground up for vehicles.

Symantec Anomaly Detection for Automotive is the latest example of Symantec’s investment in the industry’s most comprehensive IoT security solution. Symantec recently announced that the company is securing more than 1 billion IoT devices, from cars to smart meters to industrial control systems. This is Symantec’s fourth solution designed to serve the auto industry, in addition to Symantec Embedded Security: Critical System Protection, Code Signing, and Managed Public Key Infrastructure. More information about Symantec’s work with automakers, chipmakers and other forward-thinking companies to block hackers’ inroads into vehicles can be found in the whitepaper, “Building Comprehensive Security Into Cars.

“Automotive security threats have gone from theory to reality,” said Shankar Somasundaram, senior director of product management and engineering at Symantec. “Symantec is bringing the world’s most comprehensive portfolio of security technologies to the car. The infrastructure and technology that already helps protect billions of devices and trillions of dollars now protects the car. We’re building long-term comprehensive security all while delivering ground breaking protection for cars today.”

Symantec will demo its Anomaly Detection for Automotive solution at the TU-Automotive event this week in Detroit at booth C80 and will also participate in a panel entitled, “Automotive Connectivity: Risky Business or Savior?”

Availability

Symantec Anomaly Detection for Automotive is now available in most markets worldwide. Additional information can be viewed here.

About Symantec

Symantec Corporation (NASDAQ: SYMC) is the global leader in cybersecurity. Operating one of the world’s largest cyber intelligence networks, we see more threats and protect more customers from the next generation of attacks. We help companies, governments and individuals secure their most important data wherever it lives.

1Source: Gartner Says By 2020, a Quarter Billion Connected Vehicles Will Enable New In-Vehicle Services and Automated Driving Capabilities
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2970017

Contacts

Symantec Corporation
Erica Coleman, +650-527-8351
erica_coleman@symantec.com
Mirka Janus, +650-527-4023
mirka_janus@symantec.com

Contacts

Symantec Corporation
Erica Coleman, +650-527-8351
erica_coleman@symantec.com
Mirka Janus, +650-527-4023
mirka_janus@symantec.com