The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC), a leading organization dedicated to advancing connectivity solutions between devices and cars, has announced a significant milestone. The CCC Digital Key™ Applet Protection Profile has been certified by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), making it the only digital key application to achieve this high-level security designation. This certification confirms that the CCC Digital Key architecture meets the stringent security standards set by the BSI, ensuring that users can securely and safely access their vehicles, manage digital keys, and share or revoke access as needed.
The certification from BSI guarantees that the CCC Digital Key standard is robust against various hardware and software-based attacks, including tampering, storage intrusion, cloning, relay attacks, and unauthorized access. This level of security is crucial as digital keys become more prevalent in the automotive industry, where secure and reliable vehicle access is paramount.
Dr. Gerhard Schabhüser of BSI praised the CCC’s commitment to high cybersecurity standards, stating, “We appreciate how the CCC has incorporated the highest cybersecurity requirements into its standard since inception. Our mission is to shape information security in digitization through prevention, detection, and reaction. Implementing a ‘security-by-design’ approach, as the CCC Digital Key does, allows us to deliver on this, so we are pleased to verify their protection profile and further protect consumers.”
Alysia Johnson, president of the CCC, highlighted the importance of this achievement, saying, “Security without compromise has been one of our chief priorities in developing the CCC Digital Key specification. Receiving verification for a key component of our specification from such a credible government agency enables device manufacturers around the world that have been CCC Digital Key certified to signal that their implementation is secure and trusted.”
The BSI certification specifically applies to the CCC Digital Key Release 3. This release defines a standardized interface between the vehicle and the device, utilizing an NFC-based wireless interface designed for direct vehicle-to-device communication. This interface will be a foundational element in future updates to the CCC Digital Key specifications, ensuring ongoing security and reliability for users.
This certification is a significant endorsement of the CCC’s efforts to enhance digital key security and reliability, paving the way for broader adoption and implementation by device and vehicle manufacturers globally. It marks a crucial step forward in the consortium’s mission to develop secure, interoperable connectivity solutions that meet the highest standards of cybersecurity.
The CCC’s achievement with the BSI certification not only enhances consumer trust in digital key technology but also sets a benchmark for the industry, encouraging other organizations to prioritize security in their connectivity solutions.
