Communications R&D company Darwin Innovation Group and Telefónica Tech, Telefónica’s digital business unit, have signed a strategic agreement to develop a security solution for connected autonomous vehicles (CAV) with technology that combines satellite and terrestrial channels to achieve greater coverage.

The combination of satellite networks and 5G opens up great possibilities for innovation and, in particular, for the use of autonomous vehicles; and it requires its own security solution, so Telefónica Tech’s capabilities will be key. 

As a result of this agreement, Telefónica Tech’s security experts work in coordination with Darwin’s development team to perform penetration tests on Darwin’s technology using their experience and knowledge in order to solve the identified vulnerabilities.

With Telefónica Tech’s help and capabilities, Darwin will be able to ensure that its technology takes cybersecurity into account at the design level and improves identity processes. The resulting cybersecurity shield will span multiple sectors, securing both terrestrial and satellite channels, so that different networks can be used to support each other without compromising security.

Daniela Petrovic, co-founder of Darwin, says: “We are delighted to have Telefónica Tech as our partner in providing security solutions that span satellite and terrestrial communication channels. Providing a security shield for two very different technologies, with different security protocols and integration points, is no small challenge. As with everything we do at Darwin, we embrace new challenges and are confident that with the help of Telefónica Tech we will be able to deliver the ubiquitous and secure communication systems of the future”.

María Jesús Almazor, CEO of Cybersecurity & Cloud at Telefónica Tech, stresses that “all technological advances must always be accompanied by robust cybersecurity measures and, of course, this includes critical assets such as autonomous vehicles. This agreement with Darwin will allow us to put our cybersecurity expertise to work to first secure and then enhance, from a completely innovative point of view, the communications and identity processes of these types of vehicles”.