Block Harbor Cybersecurity Recognized As AutoTech Breakthrough’s 2024 “Automotive Cybersecurity Company of the Year”

Annual Awards Program Recognizes Innovation in Automotive and Transportation Technologies Around the Globe

DETROIT, Oct. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Block Harbor, a trusted automotive cybersecurity engineering company, has been named “Automotive Cybersecurity Company of the Year” in the fifth annual AutoTech Breakthrough Awards program conducted by AutoTech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global automotive and transportation technology markets today.

Block Harbor’s Vehicle Security Engineering Cloud (VSEC) is a powerful platform designed to address the evolving challenges of connected vehicle cybersecurity. VSEC is a web-based application that provides automakers, suppliers, and auditors with tools and processes to manage vehicle assets and associated risks throughout the entire product lifecycle. The platform enables seamless collaboration across teams by integrating risk and vulnerability management, regulatory compliance, and security measures into every stage of vehicle development, spanning various architectural levels throughout the supply chain. Built from a decade of hands-on service experience, VSEC helps automotive companies efficiently manage cybersecurity, scale operations, ensure compliance, and keep mobility safe.

VSEC consolidates cybersecurity activities across various teams and timelines into a single platform, driving organization wide compliance, traceable, and reusability of results, leading to greater automation. Asset Management allows companies to manage cybersecurity assets, from vehicles to individual components, while Risk Management tracks risks associated with these assets. Whether risks come from TARA, testing, monitoring, or other activities risks and assets are managed from concept through to the end of cybersecurity support. VSEC Garage provides access to real vehicles, simulations, or components for testing and diagnosis, while VSEC Test manages automated test cases for verification, regression, requirements, and deployment across connected targets, including CAN, Bluetooth, OBD II, and network stack-based interfaces. This holistic approach ensures continuous risk management and repeatability of tests run on every software release, making VSEC a scalable leader in automotive cybersecurity products.

For over a decade, Block Harbor has led the automotive cybersecurity landscape through services like Vehicle Security Operations Center (VSOC) monitoring, penetration testing, and Threat Analysis and Risk Assessment (TARA). The insights gained from hundreds of successful engagements are embedded in the VSEC platform, empowering automakers and suppliers to efficiently solve complex cybersecurity challenges. As new threats emerge, Block Harbor continues to evolve the platform and its services, ensuring companies remain compliant with industry standards and can scale their cybersecurity efforts effectively.

Block Harbor recently partnered with VicOne to host an Automotive Capture the Flag (CTF) competition with a $100,000 prize pool, designed to educate and engage automotive cybersecurity enthusiasts. The competition aimed to upskill participants and bring fresh talent into the field while offering a hands-on learning experience in vehicle security. Finalists from Japan and around the world will be coming to the US in mid-October to compete for the final round and winners will be announced during this year’s Auto-ISAC summit.

“Our commitment to quickly navigate the evolving challenges of automotive cybersecurity has granted us a unique understanding of the industry’s cybersecurity pain points. This is the driving force behind our leading solutions, continued innovation and the CTF,” said Brandon Barry, CEO, Block Harbor. “Thank you to AutoTech Breakthrough for recognizing this commitment. We’ll continue to advance the field, setting a new standard for how the industry engages with the cybersecurity community and setting a precedent for cooperative engagement leading to a more secure and collaborative future.”

The mission of the annual AutoTech Breakthrough Awards program is to conduct the industry’s most comprehensive analysis and evaluation of automotive and transportation technology categories, including Autonomous Driving, Artificial Intelligence, Electric Vehicles, Engine Tech, Automotive Cybersecurity, Telematics, Sensor Technology, Fleet Management, Traffic Tech and many more. This year’s program attracted thousands of nominations from over 15 different countries throughout the world.

“With a platform that automates many of the core efforts and workflows in vehicle cybersecurity, robust services and an eye to the future, Block Harbor offers the most comprehensive solutions in the industry. The automotive sector has historically been adversarial towards independent researchers and hackers. Undervaluing their contributions only discourages responsible disclosure and fails to harness external talent to enhance automotive product security,” said Bryan Vaughn, Managing Director, AutoTech Breakthrough. “By providing a globally accessible platform and substantial rewards, Block Harbor is demonstrating leadership, fostering talent, and driving positive change. We’re proud to recognize them with ‘Automotive Cybersecurity Company of the Year.’”

About Block Harbor
Founded in 2014 in response to the highly publicized ‘Jeep Hack,’ which drew industry-wide attention to the risk of vehicle cyberattacks, Block Harbor’s mission is to build great solutions for automotive cybersecurity to keep mobility safe! As a pioneer in the field, we collaborated with the automotive industry’s first adopters, developing innovative cybersecurity solutions from the outset. Our deep expertise and close collaboration with industry leaders have driven the evolution of our offerings, ultimately leading to the development of the Vehicle Security Engineering Cloud (VSEC). Today, we continue to serve the entire automotive supply chain — from OEMs and suppliers to auditors, educators, and regulatory bodies — with our services scaling alongside VSEC to meet the growing demands of cybersecurity and compliance across the vehicle lifecycle. Learn more at blockharbor.io.

About AutoTech Breakthrough
Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the AutoTech Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in automotive technologies, services, companies and products. The AutoTech Breakthrough Awards program provides a forum for public recognition around the achievements of AutoTech companies and solutions in categories including Connected Car, Electric Vehicles, Engine Tech, Automotive CyberSecurity, Sensor Technology, Traffic Tech, Vehicle Telematics and more. For more information visit AutoTechBreakthrough.com

Tech Breakthrough LLC does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our recognition programs, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with award designations. Tech Breakthrough LLC recognition consists of the opinions of the Tech Breakthrough LLC organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Tech Breakthrough LLC disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this recognition program, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Media Contact: Bryan Vaughn
AutoTech Breakthrough Awards
Bryan@AutoTechbreakthrough.com
949.529.4120