BlackBerry unveiled a new cybersecurity tool called BlackBerry Jarvis for automakers. BlackBerry Jarvis will scan all the software components in an autonomous vehicle, predict and fix vulnerabilities in real time. BlackBerry Jarvis aims to help automakers with safety backups as they develop the software for self driving cars.
On Monday, at the North American International Automotive Show (NAIAS) BlackBerry Executive Chairman and CEO, John Chen said, “Jarvis scans and delivers deep actionable insights in minutes, what would otherwise involve manually scanning that will take large numbers of experts and an impractical amount of time.” BlackBerry has already let Jarvis out on trials with some of the world’s leading automakers.
The CEO of Jaguar Land Rover Ralf Speth said, “Jaguar Land Rover and BlackBerry share a common objective in bringing the most intelligent vehicles to reality.” Speth further added, “In our independent study, Jarvis delivered excellent efficiencies in time to market, significantly reducing the time to security assess code from 30 days to seven minutes.”
BlackBerry’s Jarvis is customised for the unique needs of each of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and their entire software supply chain. Once Jarvis is initiated, the automakers will have online access to it. It will allow the automakers to scan any number of binary files at every stage of the software development. This gives an advantage to the automakers in evaluating new software under consideration as well as the ability to assess existing software already in production. Once the autonomous vehicle is scanned the development teams have immediate access to the results via user friendly dashboards with specific cautions and advisories.
John Chen in a statement said, “Connected and autonomous vehicles require some of the most complex software ever developed, creating a significant challenge for automakers who must ensure the code complies with industry and manufacturer specific standards while simultaneously battle hardening a very large and tempting attack surface for cybercriminals.” Chen further added, “Jarvis is a game changer for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) because for the first time, they have a complete, consistent, and near real time view into the security posture of a vehicle’s entire code base.”
BlackBerry’s Jarvis is also applicable to other industries such as healthcare, industrial automation, aerospace and defense.
