When connectivity flows, technology has to adapt the fastest, and the wittiest, to prevent any security breach or unwanted data manipulation. And as with all industries, it happened in the automobile industry; a few years back, internet connections made their way into cars, putting in jeopardy the security and safety of both the owner and the vehicle.
By then, a few hackers were able to go from easily stealing the driver's contact list to taking control over the car’s diagnostics messaging system, steering the vehicle off the road. Definitely “No bueno.”
How do these things happen? Well, an internet connection may impact the vehicle’s vulnerability to the extent that it be controlled remotely by a third party. The same thing that happens with diagnostics tools, through which we can modify a vehicle’s performance. Hackers could be able to use incoming signals to steal information hosted in the driver’s onboard computer, or demand that the electronic control module (ECM) cut off the transmission.
With how things have evolved in the past with ECMs, sensors, and so on, connectivity is spreading to all kinds of vehicles, making its way now up to pickups and other utility trucks. Manufacturers have started to put some measures in place to protect their vehicles and the safety of their customers. Some of the most popular in the U.S., RAM 1500 and up is protected with what it is called Secure GateWay (SGW) module that prevents any unauthorized diagnostics and security attacks to connect to the control units.
The SGW module works as a firewall that prevents the vehicle from being controlled by any incoming signal. This gateway controls who can access the electronic modules and who can send messages and modify these modules. However, SGW does not restrict access to diagnostics but prevents non-registered and non-authenticated users from doing more than reading codes and monitoring live data. Therefore, advanced diagnostics such as parameter settings, calibrations, regens, etc. (that is, anything that stands by what is needed for an actual repair) are only available for users with active credentials entered through a verified diagnostics tool.
The question is, who can have these credentials? In the beginning, only dealers were able to have these, but things have changed. Now, any repair shop—big or small—can have such credentials. The technician needs to use a diagnostics tool that has been certified by the regulator, like Jaltest, as a verified diagnostics tool. The user then will tie their tool to their profile to be able to access the SGW.
When it comes to Dodge RAMs, FCA U.S. has partnered with AutoAuth to make the authentication process needed to access their 2018 and newer pickups available to any shop.
At the end of the day, to service certain vehicles such as these Dodge RAM’s, shops need to upscale their tools to have one that can connect to these vehicles’ systems.
Jaltest makes this process seamless and makes it possible to have full repair control on SGW FCA vehicles now in the market. When the technician connects the diagnostics tool to a SGW protected vehicle such as a Dodge RAM, a pop-up menu will appear in the diagnostics screen that explains to the user that the vehicle is protected by SGW.
