Published in TMC Fleet Maintenance & Technology magazine Spring 2025

Why Multi-Factor Authentication Matters for Trucking Companies

By Mark Zachos

When it comes to cybersecurity in trucking, it is important to remember the extent of just how much the industry encompasses. There are computerized tools for everything from diagnostics and fuel management to payroll and driver hours to route planning and other logistics. These tools play a big part in keeping wheels on the road, and without proper security, can open a trucking company up to a cyberattack.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a valuable tool that can be implemented on computer systems and accounts to help individuals and organizations ward off cyberattacks by protecting critical information and data.

“MFA is a layered approach to securing physical and logical access where a system requires a user to present a combination of two or more different authenticators to verify a user’s identity for login,” according to the U.S. Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). “MFA increases security because even if one authenticator becomes compromised, unauthorized users will be unable to meet the second authentication requirement and will not be able to access the targeted physical space or computer system.”

The way it works is that in addition to simply entering a password or personal identification number (PIN) to gain access to an account protected with MFA, users are also required to present at least one extra piece of evidence to prove they are legitimate. This evidence typically falls into three categories:

1. Something you know – like your password or a PIN
2. Something you have – like a smartphone, a USB key or a security token
3. Something you are – like your fingerprint or facial recognition

“Typically, the second factor we use is ‘something we have,’ such as our smart phone with access to email or an authenticator app, a smart card … or a token that generates a unique code based on a complex algorithm,” explained Ryan A. Higgins, Chief Information Security Officer for the U.S. Department of Commerce, in a 2022 Cybersecurity Awareness Month post. “More companies and organizations are offering MFA as an option by emailing you a code or using an authenticator app.”

Why Should the Trucking Industry Care About MFA?

Since trucking companies handle things like client contracts, delivery schedules payroll information and other sensitive information, it causes the industry to be an appealing target for cybercriminals. MFA makes it much more difficult for hackers to break into an account, even if a hacker somehow gets hold of a password or another single layer of authentication.

Take, for example, phishing attacks. The most careful employee can still accidentally click a bad link. But with MFA enabled, even if an account password gets compromised in a phishing attack, there is a high chance that hackers will not be able to come up with a second authenticator needed to log in. Thus, access to that account will be denied.

A single cyber breach can shut down operations, costing a company time, money and its reputation. MFA can help fleets protect GPS tracking, telematics and electronic logging devices (ELDs), all of which are vulnerable to attacks. A cybercriminal gaining access to any of these systems could disrupt routes, delay deliveries or even endanger driver safety.

And for businesses that handle government contracts or sensitive goods, MFA is often seen as a best practice to protect fleet information and to meet compliance standards.

How MFA Works in the Real World

Say a dispatcher needed to log in to a company’s logistics portal. With MFA, the dispatcher likely first would enter a password (something they know). Next, the dispatcher would receive a cellphone notification (something they have) or, if it is a newer system, they might also scan a fingerprint (something they are).

Only after verifying at least two of these factors would the dispatcher gain access. So even if someone stole a password, that cyberthief would hit a dead end without access to at least one other factor.

Here are some ways fleets can apply MFA:

1. Start with Critical Systems – Identify which systems are most crucial to your operations. Implement MFA there first.

1. Educate Your Team – Beyond installing new tech, it’s about getting buy-in from your drivers, dispatchers and office staff. Explain how MFA protects not just the company but also employees’ personal data.
2. Choose the Right Tools – There is no shortage of MFA solutions out there. Some integrate directly with the software you are already using. Pick a solution that is user-friendly for your team.
3. Make It Trucking-Friendly – The trucking industry has unique challenges – drivers are on the move, often working irregular hours. Make sure your MFA system is accessible on mobile devices and does not require perfect cell service to work.
4. Plan for Exceptions – What happens if someone loses their phone or their fingerprint scanner doesn’t work? Have a backup plan in place, like security questions or a temporary code system, so operations do not grind to a halt.

In the trucking industry, where every minute counts and margins can be razor-thin, the last thing an organization wants is to deal with the chaos of a cyberattack. MFA is a smart, cost-effective way to protect business, drivers and customers.

“Most people accessing services online have relied exclusively on passwords to protect their accounts, yet passwords have proven to be a weak link on their own due to the sheer number we are asked to memorize and how effective computer programs are at cracking passwords,” said Higgins. “This is where MFA helps overcome these inherent weaknesses and better protect us all. Adoption of a second authentication factor increases confidence that the right individual is accessing the right system or service.”

About the Author

 Mark Zachos

Mark Zachos is a vehicle communications and cybersecurity expert for the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International and the American Trucking Associations (ATA) Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC). He is the owner and president of DG Technologies in Farmington Hills, Michigan, the director of the Vehicle Cyber Engineering Lab at the University of Detroit Mercy, where he also teaches, and he runs the Cybersecurity Skills Station at TMC SuperTech each year.

For further information:

Dearborn Group, Inc.
33604 West Eight Mile Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48335
1 (248) 888-2000
sales@dgtech.com

General Contact:

John McNelis
Sales and Marketing Manager
jmcnelis@dgtech.com

Visit our website: www.dgtech.com
Our Services Portal:  https://www.truck-connect.com/

Follow us!
X: x.com/DGTechnologies
Facebook: facebook.com/vehiclenetworksolutions
Instagram: Instagram.com/dg_technologies/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@DGTechnologies

Staying Cybersafe: Essential cybersecurity tips for trucking fleets

Simple mistakes, such as reusing passwords or clicking unknown links, can expose fleets to costly cyberattacks.

Mark Zachos     Oct. 28, 2025

Key takeaways

• Simple errors, such as reusing passwords or clicking unknown links, can expose fleets to cyberattacks.
• Phishing and AI-driven scams increasingly target fleet employees to access sensitive systems.
• Regular updates, strong passwords, multifactor authentication, and data backups reduce cyber risks.

While it is common today to see cyberattacks and online breaches in the news, for those who have not felt their effects firsthand, it may feel far-removed. To keep it that way, it is more important than ever now to understand that without consistent monitoring and proper precautions, a cyberattack can happen to anyone, and many attacks are actually caused by simple mistakes that could be made by any person at any level in any organization.

Common mistakes that put fleets at risk

Things as simple as clicking on an attachment or a link in an incoming email or using the same password for multiple online accounts can trigger an attack, creating problems not only for the individual but potentially leading to a fleet’s infiltration or even shutdown.

This summer, researchers for Cybernews reported discovering lists of billions of exposed usernames and passwords from major platforms, including Google, Apple, and Facebook. According to the June article, it was not known who compiled the data or where it came from, but cybercriminals were at least partly responsible for it. Its disclosure potentially puts millions of users at risk for identity theft, account takeovers, and targeted phishing

Since the breach, Google has been advising Gmail users to update their passwords. In a Google Cloud blog post titled “The Cost of a Call: Voice Phishing to Data Extortion,” the Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) spelled out a recently reported tactic involving hackers pretending to be customer support representatives from companies like Google or Apple.

Through deceptive emails and phone calls, known as phishing and vishing (voice phishing), attackers attempt to manipulate users’ trust and talk them into handing over passwords, multifactor authentication codes, and other sensitive information. Once divulged, these details can give hackers access to individual victims’ accounts, which can even ultimately mean access to entire companies’ computer systems.

GTIG specifically mentioned Salesforce, a cloud-based software company that works in partnership with Google, and stated it has been tracking “a financially motivated threat cluster that specializes in voice phishing campaigns specifically designed to compromise organizations’ Salesforce instances for large-scale data theft and subsequent extortion.”

According to the post, attackers were able to repeatedly breach networks because their operators were so convincing at impersonating IT support personnel. The report made it clear that, as a result, neither Google nor Salesforce had been breached at the company level. “In all observed cases, attackers relied on manipulating end users, not exploiting any vulnerability inherent to Salesforce.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, cybercrime is increasingly involving artificial intelligence (AI). The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) San Francisco Field Office issued a release last year warning about perpetrators who use AI in their cyber scams:

“In addition to traditional phishing tactics, malicious actors increasingly employ AI-powered voice and video cloning techniques to impersonate trusted individuals, such as family members, co-workers, or business partners. By manipulating and creating audio and visual content with unprecedented realism, these adversaries seek to deceive unsuspecting victims into divulging sensitive information or authorizing fraudulent transactions.”

Former special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office, Robert Tripp, was quoted in the release, “As technology continues to evolve, so do cybercriminals’ tactics. Attackers are leveraging AI to craft highly convincing voice or video messages and emails to enable fraud schemes against individuals and businesses alike.” He added, “These sophisticated tactics can result in devastating financial losses, reputational damage, and compromise of sensitive data.”

Unfortunately, cybercrime is not going away, and any individual or organization using devices that connect to the internet, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or cellular networks are vulnerable to an attack. Obviously, it is important to follow the basics, such as creating strong passwords, avoiding using the same login credentials for multiple accounts, using two-factor authentication, and not clicking on links or attachments unless you know and trust who sent them.

Practical steps to protect fleet data and operations

Following are some additional, equally important steps from the April 7, 2024, International Security Journal article, “12 Ways to Prevent Cyber Crime,” by Simon Burge:

• Keep software and devices updated to patch vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit.
• Install reputable antivirus and anti-malware software and keep it updated.
• Use a virtual private network (VPN) when accessing the internet from unsecured networks, including public Wi-Fi networks.
• Don’t save passwords on your browser. Instead, use a secure password manager or memorize them.
• Limit the personal information you share on social media and adjust your privacy settings.
• Back up important data regularly onto external devices or to the cloud.
• Disconnect the compromised system/device from the internet, change your passwords, run an anti-virus scan, inform the relevant authorities, and notify your bank or other affected institutions if you suspect a breach.

About the Author

 Mark Zachos

Mark Zachos is a vehicle communications and cybersecurity expert for the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International and the American Trucking Associations (ATA) Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC). He is the owner and president of DG Technologies in Farmington Hills, Michigan, the director of the Vehicle Cyber Engineering Lab at the University of Detroit Mercy, where he also teaches, and he runs the Cybersecurity Skills Station at TMC SuperTech each year.

For further information:

Dearborn Group, Inc.
33604 West Eight Mile Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48335
1 (248) 888-2000
sales@dgtech.com

General Contact:

Mr. John McNelis
Sales and Marketing Manager
jmcnelis@dgtech.com

Visit our website: www.dgtech.com
Our Services Portal:  https://www.truck-connect.com/

Follow us!
X: x.com/DGTechnologies
Facebook: facebook.com/vehiclenetworksolutions
Instagram: Instagram.com/dg_technologies/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@DGTechnologies

Mark Zachos Talks Cybersecurity on TMC Tech Talk

Robert Braswell, TMC executive director and host of Tech Talk with TMC on The Dave Nemo Show on Sirius Satellite Radio, sat down earlier this year with DG Technologies president Mark Zachos to talk about cybersecurity in trucking.

Robert Braswell: Mark Zachos is a longtime TMC member. He’s an expert in truck technology, vehicle data adapters and onboard vehicle networks and systems. We’re going to take a look at what drivers need to know about cybersecurity and trucking. He currently chairs our Cybersecurity Task Force, so he knows of what he speaks, and he’s been working on developing a number of recommended practices on the subject.

Mark Zachos: Let’s talk a little about artificial intelligence and how that’s changing the whole way you look at cybersecurity. Because now it’s not just that we’re looking out for the bad actors who are using the computers and the software systems, now it’s the software systems themselves that are bad actors that we have to look out for.

We use these things to help us do calculations. For example, fleets have tons and tons of data coming in from all over their operations, the old-fashioned way – typing into spreadsheets or importing data files. And then you’ve got to manually write a program. But these AI machine learning agents, as we call them, are very capable of being asked a question and giving answers. The real magic still becomes the human in the loop because you have to ask the question properly. So, they’re still reliant on humans, at least at this point.

RB: So, the garbage in, garbage out theory still holds true? You’re only going to get out what you put in?

MZ: Right, but you’re going to get it faster. So, that’s the thing, everyone wants to adopt the technology because we want it faster. Going back to the attackers, the cybersecurity bad guys, they, too, use these artificial intelligence programs. When I say bad guys, what I mean is, there are actually two categories – the state actors, those are the ones in China or in Russia trying to attack our infrastructure and do bad things to our country. They’re also generating something called ransomware as a service, spinning out little programs that small time, medium-sized criminal organizations could use here in the United States or anywhere in the world. Criminals pick up on that software that was developed and then use that as a method to spam or send phishing emails out to folks like us or to fleets.

RB: That’s interesting. And, it’s getting more and more sophisticated all of the time. With that in mind, what are some of the new projects your S.5 fleet maintenance management study group and S.12 onboard vehicle electronics study group are working on to thwart some of the bad actors out there?

MZ: The S.5 group is working toward a new recommended practice (RP) on equipment acquisition to give guidance to those buying trucks, maintenance equipment or computer equipment that will be cybersecure. What those recommended guidelines include is that the vendors you’re buying from need to have secure backing, meaning in their systems – where they do the engineering or the distribution or the pushing out of new software patches to you, the end customer – they make sure they’ve got a secure firewall, encrypted downloads and this sort of thing. You should put those things right there in your purchase order for that equipment.

On the S.12 side, the onboard electronics and the connection side, we want to make sure with those vehicles or that equipment, that we’re buying the maintenance equipment as well as what connects to trucks. That when you do the maintenance activity, it’s done in a secure manner. Again, the interface, the communication – the handshake between the maintenance computer and the truck, between the maintenance computer and the backend server, all of that – is secure and updated.

RB: It used to be that when you talked about cybersecurity, you usually thought about ransomware. And that was more of a back-office kind of a thing, maybe hitting the finance side of it. So, it would cripple a company’s ability to bill customers or collect payments. But now, the emphasis is expanding to include the onboard side of trucking. The actual vehicle itself and the support services that keep the vehicle up and running, such as the vehicle data adapters, the computer tools that you use to diagnose and reprogram the vehicle, some that still require you to plug in through the OBD port. Some of it can be done wirelessly and that is a great benefit, but it would also give the opportunity for more cyber intrusion, wouldn’t it?

MZ: Yeah. Anything that touches the truck, either wirelessly – Bluetooth, wifi, cellular – or plug in, there’s a vulnerability.

We have those recommended practices on cybersecurity and I would just put out there the value of something like that. The ideas and protection and guidance that we publish in our cybersecurity recommended practices, they’re going to save a lot of money. You know, these ransomware games are getting smarter and smarter. What we need to do as a community, as an industry, is just raise the bar so they go after the lower hanging fruit.

RB: The J1939, of course, is the backbone of the electrical communication system. It’s the data bus of the vehicle and it’s probably one of the points of the truck that could be the most vulnerable when it comes to cybersecurity, isn’t it?

MZ: What we have is a wide-open bus. All the messages, the network, everything’s been defined and given to the community to use for recommended practices for engineering new vehicles for hooking up diagnostic tools to the OBD port. But those documents are also available to AI bots. They actually can scan. That’s how they get their intelligence. They go out and look at what’s been posted on the internet. It’s just amazing what’s out there, and they learn from that. And they’re able to create attack scenarios, plugging into the OBD bus and downloading them – a bad calibration that when your vehicle hits 50 miles an hour shuts it down or goes into a D rate or something like that. You can actually have the AI agent create software to do that in attacks and they are doing that. We teach that, actually, a little bit in our SuperTech competition. That’s going to be new this year. We’re going to add a little AI to our SuperTech Cybersecurity Station coming up in the fall. So, there’ll be an adventure there.

The J1939 network is built to be open and easy to work with so that all the different vendors can communicate seamlessly so the commercial vehicle operates like we expect it to operate. The problem is that it leaves you vulnerable for certain cybersecurity exposure. But there is a new cybersecurity standard at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) that’s there to help protect the network and maybe close some of those opportunities. There are actually two of them. One is called J1939-91A, and that’s more of a document for new equipment – putting firewalls on the trucks and networks, separation, you know, technical things like that when you build new vehicles.

Then there’s another called J1939-91C and that one is very interesting because it does not depend on passwords directly. It’s more using something that the cybersecurity researchers know well from the banking industry or from other industries called PKI. It uses something called public key infrastructure. Basically, you’ve got to have security built in from the ground up for the communication so you can verify all these messages, you trust each other and this is brand new stuff for the trucking industry but it’s common technology for us. When you use your credit card, you don’t worry about it and that’s because the technology has been very good and stable, and we’re just bringing that into the vehicle now.

RB: What are some of the things that a driver can do to prevent cybersecurity attacks? We understand that electronic logging devices (ELDs) have been in the news recently. What can a driver do when it comes to ELDs to protect themselves?

MZ: Part of the story is the same old, same old, right? The connection to wireless devices, either through Bluetooth connection from your phone or Wi-Fi connection. That data on the ELD has to go somewhere. First, it’s collected from the truck, but then it’s accumulated and transmitted somewhere. Somebody has to get that data. The security of the connections is paramount. Somebody can actually be in a truck stop and remotely connect to your vehicle, that’s not science fiction anymore. So having strong passwords, two-factor authentication, something physical that verifies that you have a good connection, that you trust the other side you’re talking to. I’m telling you, just a little bit of extra effort will go a long, long way to make you a lot more secure. And that includes that technology, where you’re picking out trains or buses, the little pictures and squares, Captcha, I think it’s called.

RB: So, you’re not talking to a bot.

MZ: Yeah, little things are really important and just knowing that, make sure you’re really careful about that USB port that can be the gateway to all sorts of cyber evils. It’s really important to make sure that you be aware and stay on top of the things that you hear about in the news so your vehicle isn’t compromised. Because especially, over the years and with the growing sophistication of the vehicle itself, the opportunities for cyber mischief onboard the vehicle, not just in the back office, are growing more and more all of the time.

RB: Mark, thank you for joining us. I’m looking forward to the new recommended practices that are going to be coming out of TMC, particularly on new equipment purchases because I think that baking in the cybersecurity protection when you’re spec’ing the vehicle is going to be a real advantage for a lot of fleet managers and equipment purchasers so they can increase their cybersecurity going forward.

For further information:

Dearborn Group, Inc.
33604 West Eight Mile Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48335
1 (248) 888-2000
sales@dgtech.com

General Contact:

Mr. John McNelis
Sales and Marketing Manager
jmcnelis@dgtech.com

Visit our website: www.dgtech.com
Our Services Portal:  https://www.truck-connect.com/

Follow us!
X: x.com/DGTechnologies
Facebook: facebook.com/vehiclenetworksolutions
Instagram: Instagram.com/dg_technologies/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@DGTechnologies

NEW ORLEANS, March 8, 2024 – Mark Zachos, president of DG Technologies, was in New Orleans this week leading the conversation on cybersecurity in the trucking industry for the American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council’s (TMC) Annual Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition.

Zachos, an expert in the fields of in-vehicle communications and vehicle cybersecurity, is the chair of TMC’s Cybersecurity Issues Task Force, a position he has held for the last five years. He and DG Technologies design technology for in-vehicle networks in the automotive and trucking industries, including secure diagnostics, reprogramming and data extraction devices and tools. A Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) fellow and past chairman of SAE’s Detroit Section, Zachos also teaches at University of Detroit Mercy and is the director of the school’s Vehicle Cyber Engineering Lab, which he helped create.

The Cybersecurity Issues Task Force was commissioned this week with looking at exploring preventive cybersecurity methods, developing guidelines for fleets to create their own cybersecurity programs, standardizing over-the-air engine control module (ECM) programming through specific protocols that allow fail safe options and secure messaging, working with other associations to strengthen related standards by fleet user influence and examining the development of a reporting and responding alert program for industry users.

Cyber threats come in many forms and with varying motives, Zachos said. Some cyber criminals are looking for private or proprietary data to sell on the dark net or to leverage as ransom from companies, while in other cases, the threats might originate from another country’s efforts to undermine the United States’ logistical systems or infrastructure.

Zachos explained that while cybersecurity on the I.T. side of many companies often is tight, the potential threats on the maintenance side are not as well understood. “It’s kind of new ground,” he said.

“The idea is that in a truck you have the electronic control units communicating with each other,” he explained. “The bad guys know they have the technology to listen to that communication and to reverse engineer it, and maybe inject something into that communication stream that disrupts the operation of your vehicle. And it may not be a shutdown event it may be just something to slow you down, something to make your business a lot more inefficient.”

But it also could cause an entire fleet to shut down, he said, and there are still many in the industry who don’t believe it can happen to them. So, Zachos continues to work – through TMC, other industry organizations, the University of Detroit Mercy and his own company – to inform, educate, create products and help set industry standards in efforts to identify and head off cyberattacks before they can cause damage.

“There are always new recommended practices that are presented, discussed and balloted, and all of us look forward to offering our ideas that will improve maintenance in the industry,” DG Technologies sales and marketing manager John McNelis said of this week’s TMC meeting and exhibition. “DG Technologies plays a key role in offering expert information that is used to create new industry standards,” McNelis said.

TMC’s annual spring meeting and exhibition draw more than 5,000 leaders in commercial vehicle transportation, including presidents and CEOs, senior maintenance and equipment executives, directors of maintenance, fleet managers and other key decision makers. TMC bills the event, held March 4-7 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, as the premier technical conference for maximizing fleet performance and efficiency in the trucking industry, calling it “the one-stop shop for fleet education, supported by the industry’s only member-driven best practices.”

DG Technologies, which Zachos started more than 35 years ago, also had a booth at the event. McNelis said the exhibition gives him the opportunity each year to talk up new hardware and software that will join the company’s catalog, which currently includes the DPA XL heavy-duty diagnostics device and Synercon Forensic Link Adapter crash data extracting tool, “and how these new products and services can optimize truck maintenance and uptime.”

Mike Jewell, DG Technologies’ senior sales engineer said he looks forward to the event for the chance to continue marketing and promoting the company to further grow brand awareness and to maintain and grow its reputation as a trusted source for vehicle technology. “It’s also important to attend because it allows DG to learn firsthand what’s going on from industry leaders and also to influence it with our expertise and product know-how,” he said.

DG Technologies works in association with many domestic and foreign original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and tier 1 and 2 suppliers to the automotive, heavy-duty, agriculture, off-road, cybersecurity, military and recreational vehicle transportation markets and has a long affiliation with SAE International, the American Trucking Association’s Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) and tier 1 and 2 supplier organizations. The company is a leading provider of secure aftermarket diagnostic products, engineering development tools and heavy-duty vehicle digital forensics. In 2019, DG Technologies’ parent company, the Dearborn Group Inc., acquired Synercon Technologies, which specializes in vehicle crash data extraction. Zachos runs both companies from his offices in Farmington Hills, Mich.

Contact DG sales:  

John McNelis
sales@dgtech.com
(248) 888-2000
33604 W Eight Mile Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48335 

Technical Support:
techsupp@dgtech.com
(248) 888-2000 

DG Technologies
www.dgtech.com
33604 W Eight Mile Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48335
(248) 888-2000 

Follow DG! 

X:  www.twitter.com/dgtechnologies
Facebook: www.facebook.com/vehiclenetworksolutions
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dg_technologies
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@dgtechnologies

DG Technologies president Mark Zachos was in Washington, D.C., Jan. 16-18, 2024, for the Society of Automotive Engineer’s (SAE) Government/Industry Meeting. Held annually in conjunction with the Washington, DC Auto Show, the SAE forum brings together representatives from regulatory agencies and the auto industry to give them an opportunity to work to find mutual understanding and set industry standards on issues including safety, security, emissions control and energy for future vehicle design.

Zachos, an SAE fellow who is also past president of the Detroit Section of the organization, attended the conference’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Cyber Workshop, which covered the safety and vulnerability of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). Participating in the Government/Industry Meeting every year “gives our company insight and understanding where those future regulations might affect our business and our customers, and from that, DG can enhance our products and services,” he said.

DG Technologies’ trusted DPA XL and VSI NxGen diagnostic and reprogramming tools are examples of how Zachos’s involvement in events like the Government/Industry Meeting benefit the company as well as the industry.

“From the relationships we build there, I know who’s who in government agencies and they know me and SAE,” said Zachos, who also teaches at University of Detroit Mercy where he helped create and continues to serve as director of the Vehicle Cyber Engineering Lab. “It helps in working together.”

The DPA XL and VSI NxGen both feature DG Technologies’ own CyberGuard cybersecurity protection as well as adhere to J2534, an SAE-designed interface standard that is mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for vehicle electronic control unit (ECU) reprogramming. According to SAE International, this standard “provides the framework to allow reprogramming software applications from all vehicle manufacturers the flexibility to work with multiple vehicle data link interface tools from multiple tool suppliers. This system enables each vehicle manufacturer to control the programming sequence for ECUs in their vehicles, but allows a single set of programming hardware and vehicle interface (tools) to be used to program modules for all vehicle manufacturers.”

With DG Technologies’ work focused on cybersecurity, diagnostics and engineering to benefit the technicians and engineers who use our products, the company continues to emphasize standards participation to help drive the automotive and truck industry forward. In addition to Zachos, several other DG employees are also involved directly with SAE, volunteering their time and expertise to serve on the SAE committees that generate those standards.

Regulations that come out of government, said Zachos, noting NHTSA and truck emissions regulations as examples, “all correspond in some way or another to SAE standards.”

Contact DG sales:  

John McNelis
sales@dgtech.com
(248) 888-2000
33604 W Eight Mile Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48335 

Technical Support:
techsupp@dgtech.com
(248) 888-2000 

DG Technologies
www.dgtech.com
33604 W Eight Mile Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48335
(248) 888-2000 

Follow DG! 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/dgtechnologies
Facebook: www.facebook.com/vehiclenetworksolutions
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dg_technologies
YouTube: www.youtube.com/

DG Technologies’ Mark Zachos Hosts SAE Supercharged: On the Road at Plante Moran

DG Technologies President and Former SAE Detroit Section Chair Mark Zachos continues the SAE Supercharged series today, as he takes us on the road to Southfield, MI to Plante Moran. While here, we caught up with Dave Andrea to take us through some of the ins and outs of the industry from WRI pie charts and graphs to building business trust.

Check out the video, learn a thing or two, and subscribe! There’s plenty more to come while ‘on the road’ with SAE!

DG Technologies’ tools are designed to ‘Protect Your Uptime’. Find out more information and detailed literature and resources at https://www.dgtech.com/cyber-security/.

Our customers rely on DG Technologies for the most secure solutions to their maintenance, fleet and engineering needs to interact with any vehicle system. All DG Technologies solutions have a focus on security, reliability, durability, and are packed with over 30 years of company experience and expertise. Save time and money in the office, shop, or your own garage with DG Technologies products and services.

Shop Now!: https://www.dgtech.com/shop/
DPA XL: https://www.dgtech.com/dpaxl/
VSI NxGen: https://www.dgtech.com/vsi-nxgen/
Cybersecurity: https://www.dgtech.com/cyber-security/
Technical Support: https://www.dgtech.com/tech-support/
Contact Us: https://www.dgtech.com/contact-info/

Follow DG!

Twitter: www.twitter.com/dgtechnologies
Facebook: www.facebook.com/vehiclenetworksolutions
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dg_technologies
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@DGTechnologies
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dg-technologies_561427

For further information:

Dearborn Group Inc.
33604 West Eight Mile Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48335
1-248-888-2000
info@dgtech.com

General Contact:  

Mr. John McNelis
Sales and Marketing Manager
jmcnelis@dgtech.com

DG Technologies Cybersecurity: The Basics to Protecting Your Data

With DG Technologies having a major presence in various Cybersecurity events, teaching courses and implementing Cyber protection in all of our business and products, it is important to us to relay our message to our customers to secure technology in the transportation industry.

First, lets talk about Business Email Compromise, or BEC. Business Email Compromise is a rising phishing trend that relies on people’s helpfulness. Fraudsters use this type of phishing attack to impersonate an executive to con an employee into sending wire transfers to a fraudulent account. When successful, BEC attacks have a dramatic financial impact, accounting for approximately $1.8 billion in adjusted losses in 2020.

Hackers can even mimic login pages for business platforms users are familiar with such as Microsoft Office. These are used to steal credentials from links sent to recipients via email, prompting the user to log into their account, in turn stealing sensitive information. Now that the information is input into their mimic login page, scammers now have access to that users’ account.

Scams such as this caused 90% of data breaches in 2020. Employees are falling for phishing scams at an alarming rate. Therefore, it is important to educate employees on the risks of these emails, how to spot them and to pay attention to the emails they are receiving. Cybercriminals have ramped up their efforts due to their success in these attempts, and will only continue to do so as long as their tricks are effective.

Think before you click

Phishing attempts are avoidable, though it may be easier said than done. Step one in helping your business avoid phishing attempts is to make sure employees recognize them as soon as possible. Phishing emails encourage and trick users to click links, open attachments and take action on items. They can be very convincing and look almost identical to the site or page they are mimicking. According to Cisco’s 2021 cybersecurity report, at least one person clicked a phishing link in approximately 86% of organizations surveyed.

Below are a few ways to help identify an email attack in disguise:

• You aren’t expecting the email or don’t recognize the sender. Never click any links or open attachments from suspicious emails.
• The hyperlink directs to a different website. Hover your mouse over a URL without clicking it to display the actual link at the bottom of your browser window. If the link is different from what you expect, don’t click it.
• The email is unexpected but includes company branding. Don’t assume emails with the correct company logo or colors are legitimate. Cybercriminals often use professional “phishing kits” to match the logo, website, and email formats of organizations.
• The email contains typos and grammatical errors. Cybercriminals often have errors in their phishing attacks found in the subject line, email address, email body, or URLs.
• The email demands you send personal or confidential information, such as account numbers, login credentials, or passwords. Financial institutions and government agencies will never email you to request this type of personal information.
• The email includes urgent messages or threats. Cybercriminals count on recipients to act without thinking and include wording such as, “We suspended your account due to unusual activity. Click here now to verify your name and date of birth!”
• The “sender” is an executive demanding money via wire transfer or gift card. Don’t act rashly when you see urgent emails from executives within your company.

Your first line of defense: Your Employees

Make sure you are educating employees and on the signs of a phishing email attempt. Cybercriminals are targeting employees all over the world , having educated employees can significantly reduce the risk of a potential attacks.

• Create a robust security awareness program. Preventing fraud begins with training your employees. Your cybersecurity protocols are only as strong as your weakest employee when it comes to cybersecurity know-how. Continuously train employees on the newest methods of cyberattacks and preventative measures.
• Add an external email banner. This is a banner that appears at the top of emails when the sender is from outside your organization. Using an external email banner draws attention to the fact that the message isn’t from someone within the company, which can help your employees be more vigilant to potential phishing attempts.
• Empower employees to verify vendor requests. Fraudsters watch traffic between companies to identify the vendors they use, then pose as those vendors to request changes to an existing account or divert funds to new account. Employees should be trained to contact vendors using other established communication channels to verify any unexpected or suspicious request.
• Put a reporting process in place. Develop a process for employees to report suspicious emails to your cybersecurity team. Remind employees that reporting these emails can help to protect them, their fellow colleagues, and the entire organization from fraud.

Cybersecurity is an ever-growing concern especially in the transportation industry and it cannot be understated the importance of keeping employees and customers informed to prevent as many attacks as possible.

We hope this article can shed some light on the threats we see today and encourage all to follow DG Technologies for more information on Cybersecurity, and how to keep your company safe from online threats.

DG Technologies
www.dgtech.com
33604 W Eight Mile Rd.
Farmington Hills, MI 48335
(248) 888-2000

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