BlackBerry Cylance is extending beyond traditional PC and computer endpoint protection to focus on the emerging connected car industry.

The BlackBerry Cylance effort may give MSSPs (managed security services providers) a roadmap beyond endpoint security for PCs and servers. The long-term destination may help MSSPs to safeguard data, devices, sensors, and Internet of Things (IoT) connections in the emerging autonomous vehicle market, MSSP Alert believes.

This is more than a consumer car opportunity. MSSPs may ultimately wind up safeguarding autonomous government vehicles, military drones and other self-driving systems over the long haul, MSSP Alert believes.

BlackBerry Cylance and AWS: Connected Car Security Partnership

Amid that emerging reality, BlackBerry has combined the BlackBerry Cylance artificial intelligence with BlackBerry QNX technologies. Early results surfaced at this week's CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas.

Indeed, BlackBerry and Amazon Web Services (AWS) this week introduced a connected vehicle software platform that combines BlackBerry's QNX operating system with AWS's Internet of Things (IoT) services at CES 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

QNX allows automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to develop and run a single software platform across in-vehicle systems. It also ensures that mission-critical embedded systems can run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, without failure, the companies say.

AWS allows automotive software developers to use data from vehicle sensors to build applications and machine learning models. Then, software developers can deploy these applications inside vehicles.

CES 2020: Secure Automated Cars a Top Priority

In addition to BlackBerry and AWS, several other companies have unveiled secure automated car enhancements at CES 2020, including:

  • DeepRoute: Introduced an ADS synchronization controller that can take control of autonomous vehicle and perform emergency tasks such as braking.
  • Qualcomm: Announced the Snapdragon Ride Platform, which provides automatic emergency braking, traffic sign recognition and other autonomous driving capabilities.
  • Yandex: Debuted self-driving vehicles that can safely perform in driverless mode across multilane streets at speeds up to 45 mph.

The global autonomous vehicles market is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21 percent from 2017 to 2022 and a CAGR of 69 percent from 2025 to 2030, according to industry analyst MarketsandMarkets. As automakers and technology manufacturers search for ways to capitalize on the rising demand of autonomous vehicles, the number of secure connected vehicle software platforms could increase in the years to come.

Additional insights from Joe Panettieri.