Governor Rick Snyder and a delegation of Michigan representatives traveled to HARMAN International’s cybersecurity facility in Kfar Saba, Israel. HARMAN’s Saar Dickman, vice president of automotive cyber security and Michal Geva, vice president of sales enablement, led the Governor’s visit, showcasing HARMAN’s cyber security solutions and discussing HARMAN’s operations in Israel and Michigan.
The governor and his delegation also participated in a live demonstration of HARMAN’s cyber security and Over-The-Air solutions that detect, protect, and mitigate connected and autonomous vehicles to combat cyber-attacks.
“As vehicles become more connected and intelligent, we must ensure everyone on the road is protected,” says Snyder. “This requires public-private-academic collaborations, where we learn from the experts and exchange best practices. By coming to Israel, visiting innovative companies like HARMAN and engaging the top people in cyber security, we gain extremely valuable insights to design the infrastructure and policies necessary to keep people, property and information safe. The future of Automotive is incredibly exciting, and we want all of Michigan to keep driving the best – and safest – innovations in the world.
HARMAN has made significant investments in Israeli technology since 2012, including acquisitions of iOnRoad, TowerSec, and Redbend, which formed two research and development centers. Dickman came to HARMAN through the Company’s 2016 acquisition of TowerSec, an Israeli startup that was co-headquartered in Ann Arbor.
HARMAN currently employs over 1,000 people at their North American headquarters in Novi, including many software designers and engineers. The company is a leader in connected car technologies, providing navigation, multimedia, connectivity, telematics, sound management, safety, and security solutions to the world’s automakers.
“Cyber security is an essential building block to making connected transportation systems safe for drivers, passengers and society – from the cars themselves to broader V to X solutions,” says Dickman. “Governor Snyder clearly shares HARMAN’s commitment to ensuring we deploy the most sophisticated technologies to keep our roads safe, and we were proud to be a part of his envoy to Israel.”
HARMAN currently has 6,400 patents in key cyber security domains, including safety, design, navigation, connectivity, networking, human machine interface, and more.
