In The Arena by TechArena - Driving the Future: Emobi's Role in EV Security & Innovation

Episode Date: November 27, 2024

This special In the Arena episode features co-host Robert Bielby and Emobi CEO Lin Sun Fa as they dive into EV security, advanced charging tech, and the future of automotive innovation.

Welcome to the Tech Arena, featuring authentic discussions between tech's leading innovators and our host, Alison Klein. Now let's step into the arena. Welcome in the arena. My name is Alison Klein, and today we are diving deep into the automotive arena. Welcome in the arena. My name is Allison Klein, and today we are diving deep into the automotive arena. And if we do that, I always want to have somebody along with me, Robert Bilby. Welcome back to the program, Robert. Thank you very much, Allison. It's an absolute pleasure to be here. Now, Robert, you are an expert in the automotive arena, and you have been writing on the Tech Arena platform about the incredible change going on in automotive.

Why don't you give the audience a little bit of background on you and your purview in this space? Thanks again, Allison. And expert's a little strong, but I do have 25 years of experience in automotive from a semiconductor standpoint. And this ranges from product definition through system architecture and P&L responsibility. So I've been privileged to have many different vantage points on this market and the evolution of this market at this point. It's just remarkable. And it has gone from employing yesterday's technologies to now employing today's bleeding edge technologies. And we're seeing a phenomenal

transformation happening in this space. So yeah, this is another aspect that's really interesting to discuss today. And for this interview, we brought on another guest, and I can't wait to introduce him, Lin Sun-Fa, CEO of Amobi. Welcome to the program, Lin. Thank you, Alison. I'm excited to be here. Lin Sun Fan, pleasure to meet you. So what is your company focused on? Yeah, nice to meet you, Robert. So at Emobi, we focus on accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles by providing the critical digital infrastructure that enables seamless, reliable, and secure EV charging experience. So today, our plug-and-charge technology, we facilitate automatic and secure charging

initiation on more than 122,000 EV chargers in the U.S. and Canada market. This means that if you're an EV driver, you can go to any one of these 122,000 EV chargers, plug it in, and it will automatically and securely start your charging session. We've discussed security a lot on this podcast. And, you know, one of the things that I think about is EVs don't have the constraints of data centers, obviously, in terms of those security protocols that we talk about. Can you talk a little bit about the unique challenges within the electric vehicle market? Yeah, I think you're absolutely on the spot, right?

EV can be considered an IoT device. It has many security concerns just like any other IoT device. But I think when it comes to EV, it has, I would say, three distinctive characteristics compared to the typical consumer IoT. I think, one, it has immediate and highly dangerous physical consequence to the typical consumer IoT. I think one, it has immediate and highly dangerous physical consequence to the drivers if compromised. And I think secondly, our driving behavior, our whereabouts, our payment information, user data, and even biometrics in some cases are all contained in our EV today. And I think the last thing that I do in a touch base is the fact that EV has a broader attack surface because it has multiple connectivity entry points. And so, for instance, our EV is connected to our mobile app. It's connected to the cloud for over-the-air updates.

If there is any firmware or software updates, it's connected to a charging station when you're charging. And there's also the connectivity with the grid when it comes to vehicle-to-grid communication. And so the EV relies on charging. It relies on grid infrastructure, which sometimes involves financial transactions and oftentimes publicly accessible. So this poses potential risk for unauthorized access and other cyber attacks. You know, it's interesting because at one-breath we call an IoT device, which I won't disagree with at all, in the next breath, it's a data center on wheels.

And that not only is a commentary on, you know, the amount of compute performance and the underlying architecture, but also the amount of data that you're going to find on a vehicle. So you talk about protecting attack surfaces, et cetera, et cetera, but this isn't a situation where a USB drive or J-plug or type one connector, or even a wireless connection can just release malware or retrieve critical information, or is it? If it's a USB drive, absolutely, right? If you plug it into your vehicle, you're basically jeopardizing your security. But I think not exactly with J1772 plug

or the level 2 chargers or the DCFC chargers. Most EVs, I think, did a great job in isolating the charging process from its core operating system. So even though it's isolated, like you said, it can still pose unauthorized access and eavesdropping on the charging session. So it's limited to the charging itself, but it still can contain sensitive financial data, personal information, and charging behavior. And I think that's where we come in and install digital identity for each vehicle and each user. And so this digital identity essentially uses what we call the digital certificates.

It's an encryption technology where each vehicle, each user, and even each EV charger gets a digital certificate issued by a trusted certificate authority. And so in order for any communication to happen, it will identify, it will authenticate, and authorize. And so any information being transferred will be encrypted and preventing any unauthorized outside access. When you think about this, one thing that I wonder, Lynn, is obviously you are heading your company. Do you see this as a differentiation for what you're delivering to the automotive market? I believe so. The current situation in the market, there's a technology called auto charge.

Basically the way that they do it, they retrieve the MAC address of a vehicle. MAC address is essentially the static identity of your vehicle that will never change throughout its life. And I think most charger operators and EVOEM choose convenience over security. So it is the easiest way to implement charging or seamless charging without the complexity behind the scenes.

So all they do is that they take your identity that is in plain text and use that as the identification. What we offer is that we use digital certificate identity, which are encrypted with public and private key. And so when we talk about plug-and-charge technology using digital certificates, whether that's through the power line communication or the cloud-based,

drivers can conveniently, but still securely, plug in their chargers to their vehicle and seamlessly initiate a charging session. And I think that's the difference that we make to the industry today. And Lin, what do you think the public awareness is of this challenge? And what should we do about it?

I don't think there's enough awareness on cybersecurity, and especially when it comes to EV. We can see today that EV chargers, like I said, are retrieving the bare MAC address of a vehicle because it's the easiest way to implement a convenient charging experience. I think we as consumers need to advocate more of our own privacy and data security. Of course, I don't want people to be paranoid. I think one easy way to think about this is similar to how our computer communicates with an outside server in JTTPS. Let's say our computer calling Google server in this case, right?

Our computer actually have a digital certificate that was pre-installed when they first manufactured the computer. And it is installed with 13 or a few root certificates that was trusted by the world. And so when we open these server, whether it's Google or any website, it actually refer to these certificate chain, which will go back to whoever certificate authority that we already trusted. And so all we need to do as a consumer is to have a secure digital identity for ourself, for our vehicle. So when it comes in contact with others, whether that's a charging infrastructure or the grid, all the vehicle and the user needs to do is it will automatically check the digital identity of the other asset, whether it's from a trustworthy source. And that's all it takes to get ourselves in a secure position.

Now, how are you working with the auto industry to bake security into the cockpit itself? Great question. I love that. I'm a little bit nerdy, so let me know if I'm going too deep into the technical. But essentially, we've been working with various cybersecurity faculties and people in the industry to bake in this secure identity in the form of digital certificate to every EV when it's being manufactured. There's an equipment called the Hardware Secure Module. This essentially creates the public and private key in a very secure way locally, and then would be signed by a certificate

authority to be installed to each vehicle. So your vehicle essentially gets this digital certificate that makes it, okay, I'm secure. And every two, three months, it will renew itself to prevent any unauthorized access, if anything. And we've already integrated this technology with over 120,000 charging points in North America. We're working closely with EV OEMs, their supplier, to provide EV drivers secure and reliable access to these charging stations while letting them expand to new markets. We provide a platform that enriches static data and integrates easily with all charging networks, allowing drivers the peace of mind. And so when you plug in and automatically authenticate, initiate charging session, and our solution is built on the ISO 15118 standards, which ensures security and interoperability. That's very impressive, Lin. Where do you think this technology is going to go

given the rise of EVs on the road? Today, we enable interoperability and the seamless plug-and-charge experience. So I think when I think about the future, given the rise of EVs, I think about three things. A highly data-driven and connected future where data reliability is essential.

I think about innovation into vehicle-to-grid technology. And I think lastly, cybersecurity evolution with AI. So just expanding on the data-driven future, at Emobi, we focus on allowing our data to be reliable data for the consumer. We want to provide a customizable solution, faster time to market, and AI-enabled advanced data refinement capabilities.

So we don't just pass through the data we get from charging network operators. We process these data through our enrichment and refinement models so that we can offer this reliable data to the EV OEMs so that the drivers can have a reliable and easy charging experience. So we partner our partners to stay ahead in the fast EV charging landscape while maintaining

their market position. And for the V2G, I think the same protocol that we use for plug and charge, the digital certificate is based on ISO 15118. That is the same protocol that will be used for vehicle to grid communication. And this is a feature where you can have smart grid load management and even sell energy back to the grid. So imagine fleets of EVs collectively stabilizing local energy needs during peak times. That's where we're headed. And for me, it's incredibly exciting. And I think finally, our role in

cybersecurity is paramount. We add intelligence and connectivity. We're also fortifying the security of our networks to protect not only the vehicles, but also user data and grid stability. And I think this is a pivotal time for our industry. And by building a robust, secure, and flexible charging infrastructure, we're not just accommodating the growth of EVs. We're actually shaping a cleaner and smarter energy future. What does your company need from the rest of the tech industry to deliver to the objectives that you've laid out today, Lin? And are you seeing the tech industry move in the right direction? I believe so. And if there's anything, I would love to see people be more

excited about the automotive and cybersecurity, especially when it comes to infrastructure. I think our industry tends to be associated with red tapes, slow technology adoptions. And so for some people, it's not as exciting as the other tech evolution. As a child, I always enjoyed smart cities where flying cars and smart buildings seem to be connected with every other infrastructure. EV and EV chargers are the two biggest energy assets in today's world. And so if we could manage to securely and efficiently facilitate communications between the two, I have no doubt that eMobi and even the industry, we can facilitate communication between any energy assets of the

future. And so I hope this intersection of energy, automotive, AI, and cybersecurity can be the exciting middle ground for tech folks out there. Robert, Lynn has laid out a really compelling view of a challenge that a lot of people aren't talking about. In your broader engagement with the auto industry, do you think the manufacturers are taking this problem as serious as they have, or should we provide more pressure to manufacturers to use technologies like what Lynn has provided? Good question, Allison.

And I think in general, the solution that Amobee's bringing to the table is something that the industry desperately needs. And as the industry is moving towards software-defined vehicles, where the assets and the integrity of the software in the vehicle is critical, every point of entry has to be protected. And as Lynn pointed out, this is this intersection of AI and EG and energy, and it all needs to be secured. I do think the industry as a whole will benefit really focusing on many aspects of making this next generation of automotive really be successful. Lynn, thank you so much for being with us today.

One final question for me. Where can folks find out more about the solutions we discussed today and engage with your team? Yeah, you can find more about Emobi at www.emobi.ai. And thank you, Alison, for having me today. And Robert as well. It's been amazing. And thank you. And Robert, thank you so much for joining us for this special edition of the Tech Arena podcast. For those who are listening online, Robert has been writing a fantastic series on automotive innovation, and you can check that out at techarena.ai. Thanks so much for being here today, guys. Thank you. Likewise. Thank you. Thanks for joining the Tech Arena. Subscribe and engage at our website,

thetecharena.net. All content is copyright by the Tech Arena. Subscribe and engage at our website, thetecharena.net. All content is copyright by the Tech Arena.