Thales — a global leader in digital security — and Tata Communications (a leading global digital infrastructure provider) are working together to develop a secure global IoT connectivity solution.

Tata Communications’ MOVE mobility and IoT platform and Thales’s T-Sure digital identity offering are “set to unlock the value in data generated by connected devices such as cars and trucks, while maintaining the integrity and security of IoT data”.

The need to protect IoT data is a major concern for the automotive industry, due to advances in connected cars and autonomous vehicles, coupled with the continued threat of cyber-attacks.

The Thales and Tata Communications (www.tatacommunications.com) solution aims to secure the data that vehicles carry and provide control over data and applications, while keeping hackers and cyber-criminals at bay.

Reliable communications from vehicles to infrastructure (V2I) and from vehicle to vehicle (V2V) will help to unlock the value in data generated by vehicles in applications such as driving-pattern analytics, emergency services or preventive maintenance.

Manufacturers will be able to gather data through the SIM to ensure that a vehicle is operating safely, the dealership can use the SIM for keeping track of the maintenance logs, and the vehicle car owner can trust that his/her private information stays private.

The solution aims to allow for multiple secure ‘vaults’ within the vehicle, to which only the vault owner has access. This means that the manufacturer, dealership and vehicle owner will each have their own private secure space to store information, run applications and establish communications.

Gareth Williams, vice-president (secure communications and information systems) at Thales (www.thalesgroup.com), said: “The only thing that will allow IoT to fulfil its potential and bring about innovations like autonomous vehicles is totally trusted and secure data connectivity.

"The marriage of Tata Communications’ expertise in the connected automotive sector with Thales’s leadership position in IoT and data security — reinforced by the integration of technologies from the Thales company Gemalto — is driving an offering that will give end users complete trust in the integrity of their data, while opening up new business opportunities for manufacturers.”