Block Harbor Cybersecurity

Vehicle Security Engineering Cloud

Block Harbor is a vehicle cybersecurity company based in Detroit, Michigan. Its main product, the Vehicle Security Engineering Cloud (VSEC), covers a vehicle program from design to decommissioning. The platform combines human expertise with software tools, and the company says its data draws on a decade of work with carmakers and suppliers.

Early design and threat analysis

In the design phase, VSEC streamlines security planning with automated threat analysis tools. Design teams get templates and guidance for building cybersecurity into vehicle systems, from concept through to blueprint. The company says engineers can then implement the right controls themselves, so the cyber team does not have to act as program managers.

Testing through manufacture

During manufacture the platform coordinates testing and validation and tracks vulnerabilities in real time. It manages security assessments across components, suppliers and systems, and keeps the documentation in one central place.

Lifetime monitoring and compliance

Once a vehicle is on the road, VSEC keeps watching for new threats, works out the cybersecurity impact of each one and preserves compliance records until the vehicle is decommissioned. The company refers to standards including ISO/SAE 21434 and UNECE WP.29, and it publishes guidance on applying them.

Red Team and Blue Team services

For clients who prefer not to adopt a tool, the Red Team and Blue Team provide the work directly. The Red Team tests vehicles for security flaws, and the company describes its offensive experts as award-winning. The Blue Team designs, implements and monitors security controls for products. The company says the teams' work is supported by the automation in the VSEC platform, which keeps the service affordable.

Community and regulators

Block Harbor is a founding member of ASRG Detroit, a group that works to advance automotive cybersecurity. The company says it has worked since 2014 with carmakers, suppliers and regulators on vehicle cybersecurity, and that it helps them find and fix vulnerabilities before vehicles reach the road.

Block Harbor Cybersecurity protects cars and other vehicles from cyber attack, working from Detroit, Michigan. Since 2014 it has worked with carmakers, suppliers and regulators, and it now sells a software platform as well as hands-on testing and defence services.

Services

• Vehicle Security Engineering Cloud (VSEC): a platform covering a vehicle programme from design to decommissioning.
• Threat analysis tools: automated threat and risk analysis with templates for design teams.
• Testing coordination: tracking vulnerabilities and assessments across components and suppliers during manufacture.
• Lifetime monitoring: following new threats and keeping compliance records for vehicles in service.
• Red Team: offensive security experts who test vehicles for flaws.
• Blue Team: defenders who design, implement and monitor security controls.

Customers and markets

It serves carmakers and their suppliers, and has worked with regulators on vehicle cybersecurity. Its guidance covers standards such as ISO/SAE 21434 and UNECE WP.29.

Key facts

• Based in: Detroit, Michigan, USA
• Working since: 2014
• Community: founding member of ASRG Detroit
• Recognition: winners at the DefCon 27 Car Hacking Village
• Partnership: Keysight Technologies, on an automotive test workbench