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Since the rise of connected and autonomous vehicles, the automotive industry has undergone a significant transformation. Modern vehicles are now equipped with advanced systems that communicate with each other and external infrastructures, enhancing the driving experience. However, this increased connectivity also brings heightened security risks. Unauthorized access to a vehicle¡¯s systems can lead to data breaches, manipulation of critical functions, and potentially endanger the lives of passengers. Therefore, ensuring both safety and security is critical in the design of today's vehicles, since there can be no safety without security.

To facilitate the growing demand for security in the automotive industry, ²ÝÁñÉçÇø is excited to announce the expansion of its MACsec IP portfolio with an Automotive MACsec variant that is compliant with the latest safety and cybersecurity requirements of the automotive market.

Importance of Securing Ethernet Connections in the Car

While much attention is given to securing vehicles¡¯ wireless communications, it is equally important to secure wired connections, like Ethernet, which transmits sensitive data between various electronic control units (ECUs) and other critical systems. If these Ethernet connections are compromised, attackers could manipulate vehicle functions, access personal data, or disrupt the vehicle's operation. Encrypting data over Ethernet ensures that even if physical access is gained, the data remains secure and tamper-proof.

Even if it seems unlikely that people will have physical access to Ethernet inside a car, there are still several important reasons to warrant data encryption for these connections:

• Physical Access is Not Impossible: While it may seem difficult, it's not impossible for someone with malicious intent to gain physical access to the vehicle's internal wiring. This could happen during maintenance, repairs, and even in the field.
• Broad Range of Potential Attacks: If an attacker is able to gain access to data on an Ethernet connection, a range of attacks is possible, including eavesdropping, denial-of-service attacks, and man-in-the-middle attacks.
• Regulatory Compliance: Depending on the region and industry, there may be legal or regulatory requirements for data encryption to protect consumer privacy and security.
• Futureproofing: As technology evolves, new vulnerabilities and attack methods may emerge. Encrypting data now helps ensure the vehicle's security against future threats, which is particularly important as cars tend to have a long lifespan.

Hence, encrypting data over Ethernet in a car is a proactive measure to safeguard against a range of potential security threats, ensuring the ongoing protection of sensitive information and the safe operation of the vehicle.

What is MACsec?

The security standard designed to provide secure communication over Ethernet networks is called Media Access Control security (MACsec). The main principles of MACsec are described in the standard IEEE 802.1AE, which specifies how to secure data on wired Ethernet networks at the data link layer (Layer 2). Additionally, there are several related standards and amendments that complement IEEE 802.1AE, like IEEE 802.1Q that specifies VLAN tagging.

MACsec ensures data confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity by encrypting and authenticating frames at the data link layer.  It provides protection against denial-of-service attacks, eavesdropping, and man-in-the-middle attacks by enabling a bidirectional secure link. The pre-shared key used in the first step of MACsec negotiation can prevent non-trusted devices from successfully connecting to a secured ethernet fabric. MACsec prevents unauthorized access and tampering of data as it travels across the network, making it an essential component for safeguarding automotive communications.

Which Standards are Important for Automotive IP?

To ensure the highest levels of safety and security, automotive systems must comply with several key standards. The two most important ones are:

• ISO 26262: This standard focuses on the functional safety of electrical and electronic systems in road vehicles. It provides guidelines for the entire lifecycle of automotive systems, ensuring that safety is integrated into every stage of development.
• ISO/SAE 21434: This standard addresses automotive cybersecurity. It outlines requirements for managing cybersecurity risks in the development and production of automotive systems, thereby protecting vehicles against cyber threats.

Adhering to these standards ensures that automotive products, like Automotive MACsec for securing Ethernet communication, meet the stringent safety and security requirements of the industry.

What ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Has to Offer

²ÝÁñÉçÇø has long been a leader in providing innovative solutions for the automotive industry. With the introduction of Automotive MACsec, ²ÝÁñÉçÇø continues to demonstrate its commitment to delivering cutting-edge security solutions. Automotive MACsec is designed to integrate seamlessly with existing automotive Ethernet networks, providing robust encryption and authentication capabilities to protect sensitive data.

MACsec modules from ²ÝÁñÉçÇø align with the IEEE 802.1AE, IEEE 802.1Qbu, and IEEE 802.1Q standards to provide confidentiality, integrity, origin authentication, and replay protection based on scalable AES-GCM cryptography enabling end-to-end security for Ethernet traffic. ²ÝÁñÉçÇø MACsec modules are standards-compliant, complete inline full-duplex solutions, and seamlessly integrate with the ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Ethernet MAC & PCS IP. The automotive MACsec variant supports scalable data rates of up to 25Gbps, with optimal latency, network prioritization, and diversity for a range of secure Ethernet connections. Many features are supported including frame preemption, a scalable number of Secure Channels & Secure Associations, SecTag insertion and removal, jumbo frames, a variety of xMII interfaces, including USXGMII, and VLAN tags in the clear.

Safety and Security Functionality Included in Automotive MACsec

²ÝÁñÉçÇø Automotive MACsec is ASIL B compliant and protects against random and systematic faults. This compliance is critical for automotive safety applications, where reliability and fault tolerance are paramount. It also meets the stringent safety process and documentation requirements of ISO 26262, achieving ASIL D compliance for systematic faults, the highest safety integrity level for automotive applications. 

²ÝÁñÉçÇø Automotive MACsec incorporates several advanced safety mechanisms to ensure its reliability. These redundancy and fail-safe mechanisms maintain functionality and safety even in the event of certain failures. They include:

• AES-GCM Dual Computation - Executes AES-GCM encryption and decryption twice to ensure data integrity and detect errors.
• Datapath Protection with Parity - Uses parity checks to detect and correct single-bit errors in the data path, enhancing reliability.
• Configuration Registers Integrity - Applies integrity checks to protect configuration settings from unauthorized changes and corruption.
• Timeout Counters - Tracks operation durations with counters to prevent system hang-ups and ensure timely task execution.

The comprehensive functional safety documentation provided by ²ÝÁñÉçÇø includes the Quality Manual, Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA), Failure Modes, Effects and Diagnostic Analysis (FMEDA), Safety Manual, Safety Case Report, Dependent Fault Analysis (DFA), and ISO 26262 Assessment Report.

Furthermore, ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Automotive MACsec aligns with the ISO/SAE 21434 cybersecurity process requirements, ensuring adherence to the latest standards in automotive cybersecurity. The standard mandates rigorous key management practices to control access to secure communication channels, along with continuous monitoring and error detection mechanisms to maintain system reliability. By adhering to ISO/SAE 21434, Automotive MACsec ensures that all cybersecurity measures are systematically planned, implemented, and maintained throughout the vehicle's lifecycle, thereby mitigating potential cyber threats and enhancing overall vehicle safety and resilience. The provided cybersecurity deliverables associated with this standard include documents such as the Threat Model and Security Risk Analysis Report, Cybersecurity Case Report, and Cybersecurity Assessment Report. 

The compliance with ISO/SAE 21434 guarantees that Automotive MACsec not only meets safety standards but also addresses the mandatory requirements for robust cybersecurity measures in modern vehicles.

Conclusions

The launch of Automotive MACsec for protecting Ethernet connections continues to broaden the comprehensive standards-compliant automotive security portfolio of ²ÝÁñÉçÇø. As the industry continues to innovate and expand, the demand for robust security measures becomes increasingly critical. By adhering to the stringent functional-safety and cybersecurity requirements of ISO 26262 and ISO/SAE 21434, ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Automotive MACsec establishes a benchmark for automotive security, and together with ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Ethernet MAC and PCS IPs it offers a complete solution to SoC designers to protect in-vehicle communications. 

For more information about ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Automotive MACsec and how it can enhance the security of your automotive products, please contact our sales team or visit the MACsec product page.