The increasing connectivity and digitisation, both inside and outside, of modern vehicles presents significant cybersecurity challenges, creating new opportunities for malicious actors to exploit vulnerabilities. Cyberattacks on vehicles can range from the theft of personally identifiable information to more severe threats, such as unauthorised control over steering or disabling braking systems, posing serious safety risks.

The increasing connectivity and digitisation, both inside and outside, of modern vehicles presents significant cybersecurity challenges, creating new opportunities for malicious actors to exploit vulnerabilities. Cyberattacks on vehicles can range from the theft of personally identifiable information to more severe threats, such as unauthorised control over steering or disabling braking systems, posing serious safety risks.

Secure Elements is a specialist in automotive cybersecurity software engineering, aiming to establish itself as a global leader in the field. The company leverages advanced AI-driven technologies to detect and prevent cybersecurity threats in near real-time.

Saket explains

“ So where we come in is we enable tool chains. So we provide tooling solutions to vehicle makers, to tier suppliers, for them to be able to conduct these safety and cybersecurity risk assessments throughout the product security lifecycle.”

A vulnerability is essentially a weakness within a system, and cyber attackers are constantly seeking out these weaknesses to exploit.

Drawing on 15 years experience in the automotive, telematics and connected car sector, Secure Elements has developed a platform designed to monitor and manage vulnerabilities throughout the entire lifecycle of a vehicle’s development. At any stage—from concept and design to production and operation—if a vulnerability is detected, the system alerts security and safety engineers, prompting a reassessment of the design to address the risk.

By keeping security teams continuously informed about a product’s security posture, the platform also enables rapid response to cyber threats, integrating both cybersecurity engineering and real-time monitoring solutions.

Secure Elements’ tools and techniques enable engineers to define cybersecurity and safety requirements, conduct risk analyses, and establish cybersecurity and safety goals.

This structured approach seamlessly integrates into the development phase, where software teams implement these requirements into the system’s architecture. By embedding security and safety measures at every stage, Secure Elements ensures that CAM systems are not only compliant with industry regulations but also resilient against cyber threats, ultimately supporting the safe and reliable operation of next-generation vehicles.

Saket tells us

“Our product security lifecycle application inherits and integrates systems, functional safety and cyber security properties, whereby we conduct cyber security risk assessments, manage cyber security vulnerabilities on the one hand, but equally we also monitor cyber security alerts.”

Secure Elements is leveraging the Zenzic CAM Scale-Up UK programme to advance its cybersecurity solutions within real-world testing environments. They worked with two key test sites—Midlands Future Mobility and Smart Mobility Living Labs—to validate its technologies and enhance their technology readiness level.

Through these trials, Secure Elements worked with Midlands Future Mobility to  deploy its cybersecurity engineering analysis platform for risk assessments and operational validation, while its security operations platform were integrated at the SMLL facilities to refine its capabilities. This included injecting a real vehicle with malicious code to understand the behaviour, log the outcomes and transfer these logs to the system to then perform remedial action.

Beyond the technical advancements, Secure Elements believe that participation in the programme has also positioned the company for future commercial opportunities, fostering valuable discussions with industry stakeholders, and collaborations within the CAM ecosystem including with other CAM Scale Up UK alumni.

“ I think the biggest aspect of working with these two test beds is leapfrogging at least a year’s worth of time that we would have been consumed by simply talking to customers without actually deploying our tools and solutions into their operational environment. This programme has enabled us to put our solutions in real life deployment situations, so get some real feedback, not just theoretically but actually practically.”