Auto Cybersecurity Firm Karamba Signs Production Deal With Japan’s Alpine Electronics

Israeli automotive cybersecurity startup Karamba Security announced Monday it had signed a production agreement with Alpine Electronics, a Japanese automotive electronics manufacturer. According to the agreement, the Israeli company’s Carwall runtime integrity software will be implemented into Alpine’s car infotainment systems.

The platform provides a car’s electronic control unit (ECU) self-protection against remote code execution (RCE), which helps to protect the vehicles from cyber attacks.

Founded in 2015, Karamba Security provides a solution to the growing number of vehicles who are hacked through their external network such as GPS or infotainment system.

Karamba’s software prevents hackers from accessing a car’s control system by sealing off the critical ECUs in the car. Connected and smart cars are essentially networks of ECUs. One car have as many 150 ECUs managing the infotainment system, engine, windows, and doors. This network of connectivity leaves cars vulnerable and a hacker only needs to breach one ECU to access the car’s entire network.

“This is the first time a production of commercial, embedded, self-protection software is available for automotive ECUs and vehicles.” says Ami Dotan, Karamba co-founder and CEO. In addition, Dotan attributes Karamba’s resolution of production hurdles to the partnership with Alpine’s product team.

Karamba says its Carwall software is the industry-leading Control Flow Integrity (CFI) solution, a type of technology that leading OEMs such as Audi, BMW, Daimler, Fiat-Chrysler, and Volkswagen recommend for protecting safety systems against cyber attacks.

“Protecting our customers against cyberattacks is a key mission for Alpine. We were looking for a solution that can be seamlessly applied to our product without delaying time to market, with negligible performance impact, while providing strong security measures. We have found those qualities in Karamba Security Carwall and we are excited to team up with this high growth company,” says Yasuhiro Ikeuchi, president of Alpine Europe.

The Hod HaSharon-based automotive cybersecurity solution provider raised $10 million in April 2018, bringing their total funds to $27 million to date.