With the massive introduction of computing power and connectivity inside vehicles, our cars are connected to more and more devices, servers, apps and services.
However, before exchanging data or engaging in a transaction, it is essential to know what – or who - is on the other side of the connection.
Why digital ID in automotive?
Each of us has multiple identities, known as a digital identifier or digital ID, depending on the context.
For example, our mobile phone digital ID is our phone number, whereas our identity is our credit card number in a payment context.
Similarly, cars have multiple identities for various scenarios, often called automotive IDs.
Beyond identification (i.e., assigning a unique ID to a person or object), an authentication phase is mandatory to ensure a remote entity is the one it claims to be.
Finally, an authenticated entity with a given ID will be generally associated with a set of permissions depending on its role, status or service level.
Permissions associated with an authenticated ID are a powerful way to implement value-added services and innovative business models.
Digital ID in automotive: concepts and use cases
In this paper, we will review the concepts of digital IDs, authentication and permissions in the automotive market through three concrete examples:
• the digitalization of the car key to open and start the engine
• the electric vehicle (EV) charging subscription and
• the peer-to-peer communication between cars and related infrastructure (V2X communication)
We will describe the associated cybersecurity risks and the attacks that potential hackers could set up for each use case.
We will describe which security mechanisms should be implemented to deploy safe and trusted services for connected cars and EVs and the many innovations coming to the auto industry.
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