Intelligent Transportation System Leads to First Test Bed ‘K-City’ for Connected Cars in South Korea

Penta Security Systems Inc. will head and monitor security systems for K-City, testing, and certifying the safety of smart vehicles. With the increasing prominence of smart and connected vehicles in Asia, South Korea is no stranger to the need for an intelligent transportation system (ITS), comprised of networks of smart roads and highways to communicate with the technology of connected and autonomous cars. Smart roads and highways allow for streamlined connectivity between a vehicle and surrounding vehicles as well as infrastructure and roadside units.

This connectivity must function seamlessly to provide maximum efficiency and security. The first-ever ITS project in Korea began in 2016 with smart roads set up in two major cities, Daejeon and Sejong. Consequently, Yeoju was added as the third ITS city in 2017 with the construction set to complete in December this year. Penta Security Systems, a leading provider of web, IoT, and data security solutions and services, has set up and provided oversight on the security systems for all three cities by ensuring that its connected car security solution, AutoCrypt, protected vehicles, devices, and roadside units in the ITS from malicious traffic and tampering.

Following the successes of ITS and with data collected from smart roads and highways, K-City, a new testbed—the first of its kind in the country and second-largest in the world—will open to both tests and certify the safety of autonomous cars. Consequently, Penta Security received the green light to head the installation and operation of security systems for K-City, implementing Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology as well as V2X security systems.

This will ensure that communication between a vehicle and other vehicles (V2V, Vehicle-to-Vehicle) and infrastructure (V2I, Vehicle-to-Infrastructure) through roadside units are properly secured and encrypted. Penta Security will play a critical role in testing autonomous vehicles for proper security implementation as part of the certification for K-City. Chief Technology Officer of Penta Security Systems, Daniel ES Kim remarked, “One of the central challenges for autonomous vehicles is that if the cars are compromised through internal or external networks, it is no longer a technical issue, but an issue of human safety.

Penta Security’s cooperation in leading security operations at the new testbed means that not only will K-City test autonomous vehicles for their operational technology, but security will also be highlighted as a priority.” Penta Security holds a “Secure First, Then Connect” approach to IoT, prioritizing logic-based security before connectivity in order to provide comprehensive and effective security. South Korea’s K-City, along with Penta Security’s security implementations, is set to open for testing in 2018.