Skip to main content

Beating the bugs with NTT Data

NTT Data chooses Israeli and Italian partners for connected vehicle security initiative
By Alan Dron February 9, 2023 Read time: 2 mins
Security tests aim to protect connected cars from cyberattacks (© Plottyphoto | Dreamstime.com)

Japan’s NTT Data Corporation has chosen C2A Security and Marelli to participate in the first project being undertaken by its new Global Automotive Security Test Center (GASTC). The centre will develop security tests for connected cars, with the aim of protecting them from cyberattacks.

Israel-based C2A Security is a developer of cybersecurity protection equipment for vehicles. Italy’s Marelli provides a range of automotive products including electronics, lighting and electric powertrains.

NTT Innovation Laboratory Israel (NTT Israel), which works to integrate Israeli technologies into NTT’s services and products, as well as finding business collaborations and investment opportunities in Israeli companies, facilitated C2A Security’s selection.

Based in Italy, GASTC will develop security tests for connected cars to protect them from cyberattacks.

"We want to apply our expertise in cybersecurity to the connected car sector," said Marco Garelli, head of automotive at NTT Data Italy.

Through GASTC, the firm "will be an international reference point to protect connected cars from cyber-attacks and ensure the drivers' safety".

The centre is being set up to work within the new Automotive Cybersecurity European regulations.

The initial project will use C2A Security’s flagship product EVSec, which involves the automatic generation of ‘System Level Fuzz Testing', a technology aimed at uncovering bugs and vulnerabilities for car ECU software.

The project carried out with C2A Security and Marelli also covers anomaly detection of communication between ECUs and showcases innovation with artificial intelligence algorithms that can identify any attacks in progress and send alerts to a control centre that can promptly intervene.

“This collaboration is a significant opportunity for C2A Security to interact with a wide range of customers around the world who trust NTT DATA’s reputation,” said Roy Fridman, C2A Security’s CEO.  

“We’re thrilled to offer NTT customers a seamless and automated system-level validation tool in order to find ahead of time critical bugs and vulnerabilities”

"The NTT Israel Innovation Lab was established to promote and find Israeli startups for collaborations and investments,” said Noa Asher, CEO of the NTT Israel Innovation Lab. “This project is an extraordinary opportunity for NTT Data  to become a leading service provider  in the connected cars arena based on an Israeli technology."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Tri-nation cooperation on C-ITS Corridor
    June 20, 2016
    In the European C-ITS Corridor project, authorities from three countries are working with the automotive industry on the deployment of Cooperative (V2X) Systems. Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems/Services (C-ITS) has the potential to improve road safety, transport efficiency and environmentally friendly mobility, as well as creating additional services and new business models. A set of international standards have been developed to provide the technical basis for the deployment of Cooperative ITS.
  • ‘How do you connect your dots with their dots?’
    May 24, 2022
    Ahead of the European Congress in Toulouse, Joost Vantomme tells Adam Hill how Ertico-ITS Europe is looking to bring partners together in pursuit of smarter and more sustainable mobility
  • University of Michigan launches big data initiative
    September 9, 2015
    The University of Michigan (U-M) plans to invest US$100 million over the next five years in a new data science initiative aimed at working with big data sets that can further research into such things as driverless cars, medicine and climate change. The money will pay for 35 new faculty members to be hired over the next four years, support interdisciplinary data-related research initiatives and foster new methodological approaches to big data, as well as enabling the university to expand its research com
  • Co-operative infrastructure reduces congestion, increases safety
    January 30, 2012
    ITS Japan's Chairman Hiroyuki Watanabe talks to ITS International about his country's progress with cooperative infrastructures and how the experience gained to date can benefit similar initiatives elsewhere. Japan gave the rest of the world a taste of the cooperative infrastructure future when, in 1996, it went live with the Vehicle Information and Communication System (VICS). Designed to provide real-time traffic information and alerts to in-vehicle navigation systems with the dual aims of increasing safe