Continental India, IIT Madras to jointly develop cybersecurity for engines

Their research will focus on intrusion detection and reporting on powertrain applications

Technology company Continental India and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for joint research to develop solutions that will safeguard powertrains (engines) in vehicles.

With vehicles becoming 'mobile devices' with permanent and seamless connectivity, the rate of risks and security become higher, an area of concern for vehicle manufacturers.

The company's joint research with IIT Madras addresses an industry white spot -- cybersecurity for conventional drivetrains. The research will focus on intrusion detection and reporting on powertrain applications, said the company.  

In a statement, the company said that the fast-paced evolution of mobility technologies also demands higher computational power. Drivetrains are no longer all-mechanical systems. 

Specifically for India, with the impending BS-VI implementation, electronics content is on the rise, making higher computational power imperative. With high computing platforms, car manufacturers will be able to maintain their ability to compete on various innovative functions and enlarged flexibility on software development.

Together with IIT Madras, Continental will conduct research on technologies that involve time deterministic behaviour on powertrain controllers and its applications.

Continental expects this collaboration with IIT Madras to address these next-generation topics for drivetrain electronic systems. 

Pratyush K Panda, assistant professor, computer science and engineering, IIT Madras, Chennai, said that the partners would work towards achieving two challenges -- how to achieve high performance with reliable timing guarantees on the powertrain and how to automatically detect and flag intrusions on to the powertrain software.