In This Article:
Upstream's 2025 Automotive & Smart Mobility Cybersecurity Report reveals that 60% of cyber incidents could affect thousands to millions of connected vehicles, with massive-scale attacks more than tripling; the report emphasizes that current regulatory requirements are insufficient to address expanding cyber risks.
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Upstream Security, the leading provider of cloud-based cybersecurity and data management platform purpose-built for automotive, smart mobility, and IoT ecosystem, today released the 2025 Automotive & Smart Mobility Cybersecurity Report. The annual report, returning for its seventh year, highlights that despite the increased regulatory attention, the number, scale, and severity of cyber attacks continues to grow, showing a false sense of security and resilience. Automakers and mobility stakeholders have to go beyond regulations to address the threats causing serious implications for safety, operational availability and data privacy.
The report revealed that in 2024, 60% of cybersecurity incidents in the automotive and smart mobility sectors affected thousands to millions of mobility assets, including vehicles, EV charging stations, smart mobility apps, and connected devices. Notably, massive-scale incidents—each impacting millions of vehicles—more than tripled, rising from 5% in 2023 to 19% in 2024. This sharp increase highlights the urgent need for organizations to prioritize resilience by extending their cybersecurity efforts beyond regulatory compliance.
The rise of software-defined and autonomous vehicles has introduced new vulnerabilities, leading to a widening cybersecurity gap. Additionally, critical infrastructure in smart mobility devices, like EV chargers and fleet management systems, has expanded the attack surface and magnified the stakes. Mobility-specific ransomware attacks surged in 2024 causing unprecedented disruptions with 108 reported ransom attacks and 214 data breaches. One of the most impactful incidents was a ransomware attack in June on a leading US-based software provider used by 15,000 automotive dealerships which resulted in halted operations for nearly three weeks, estimating losses at $1.02 billion.
"The cybersecurity landscape across the Automotive and Smart Mobility ecosystem is poised to become more complex than ever," said Yoav Levy, CEO and co-founder of Upstream. "Cyber threats are evolving faster than the industry is prepared to handle, outpacing regulation-driven measures. Threat actors have already shifted toward large-scale, sophisticated and AI-powered attack methods, targeting not only vehicles but also interconnected systems such as EV charging infrastructure, API-driven apps, and smart mobility IoT devices. This growing attack surface demands a transformative and proactive approach to cybersecurity."