HARTING MICA® encrypts the mobile phone connections to cash-in-transit vehicles.

One of Europe's leading manufacturers of armoured cash-in-transit vehicles relies on the MICA^® Wireless Edge computer, with encryption technology from Infotecs, for providing remote access to its vehicles via the mobile cellular network.

Millions of euros are transported on public roads every day. Cash-in-transit vehicles would seem to be easy prey for criminals, so companies must protect their vehicles accordingly. In addition to their armoured protection, an uninterrupted, tap-proof connection to the vehicle is a critical protective measure. Since the vehicles are permanently moving through different cells of the mobile providers, the special vehicle manufacturer has decided on a solution from Infotecs. This solution combines the encryption software ViPNet with the robust MICA^® Edge computer from HARTING to provide the wireless gateway to the vehicle.

Thanks to the always-on functionality of the ViPNet Software Defined VPN solution, vehicles can be accessed at any time via an encrypted mobile cellular connection. With other VPN solutions, the secured connection must be re-established each time the connection is interrupted or the mobile provider network is switched.

The encrypted always-on mobile connection also offers new possibilities for vehicle monitoring. Since GPS tracking of the vehicles is not always possible (e.g. in tunnels), the operator has now enabled seamless vehicle tracking. Using the mobile cellular network, vehicles can also be tracked in tunnels, which considerably increases the security level of cash-in-transit companies.

The MICA^® Wireless computers are permanently installed in the vehicles and equipped with an E-Sim from EMnify. EMnify's global roaming service eliminates the need to establish separate mobile contracts with each mobile operator in the different countries where the vehicles are used. Using the MICA^® hardware, it is also possible to transmit the telemetry data of the vehicle manufacturer's specific bus system and to evaluate this for predictive or preventive maintenance analyses. Thus, vehicle breakdowns can be prevented before they happen. Since the Infotecs solution also features a very low latency time for data transmissions, remote software updates can be easily installed directly to the vehicles.