ISO 26262: The ISO Standard for Functional Safety

The automotive industry is constantly evolving, with new technologies and features continually being released to improve our daily drivers' comfort, safety, and convenience. Functional safety management is an essential piece of risk assessment in the automotive industry, as it helps to prevent hazards that could potentially lead to loss of life. It is critical that all these new technologies are safe and meet stringent functional safety requirements. This is where ISO 26262 comes into play.

What is ISO 26262?

ISO 26262 is a standard for functional safety and automotive safety integrity level (ASIL). It specifies the requirements for functional safety of electrical/electronic, software, or mechanical systems that are intended to be used in a vehicle, with the goal of preventing hazards to people's lives.

Compliance with ISO 26262 is essential for any company that wants to supply electrical/electronic, software, or mechanical systems for use in a vehicle. In order to achieve ISO 26262 certification, companies must demonstrate that their products meet the required safety level for each application.d

Challenges of ISO 26262

The challenges associated with ISO 26262 certification include understanding and complying with the standard's complex requirements, meeting the necessary safety level for each system or component, and completing a rigorous assessment process.

ISO 26262 is widely considered to be the most comprehensive and rigorous automotive safety standard in use today. It was developed in response to the increasing complexity of automotive systems, and the number of potential failure modes that can lead to hazardous situations.

What are the benefits of ISO 26262 certification?

Receiving an ISO 26262 certification can help companies demonstrate compliance with automotive safety standards, improve product quality and reliability, reduce the risk of hazardous situations arising from system failures, and even protect their reputation and bottom line.

How can I achieve ISO 26262 certification?

The requirements for ISO 26262 certification can vary depending on the scope and complexity of your product. The best way to find out what is required is to contact an ISO 26262 certifying body. They will be able to walk you through the process and help you to meet the necessary safety requirements for your product.

It is important to note that ISO 26262 certification is not a one-time certification. Companies must continually demonstrate that their products meet the required safety level, and are compliant with the standard's requirements.

Fuzzing for ISO 26262 Compliance

Fuzzing is the process of automatically exploring the program input space to elicit new program behaviors. Advanced fuzzing engines such as Mayhem can be used for both white and black box testing and combines the tried-and-true methods of guided fuzzing with the ingenuity of symbolic execution.

Mayhem can be used with unprecedented speed, scale, and accuracy, to continuously uncover defects. By integrating Mayhem in your software assurance program you will be able to deliver safe, secure, reliable software with less time, cost, and effort. Safe software is robust software, and automotive companies with fuzzing as part of software pipelines will have the advantage of going to market more quickly and cheaply.

Mayhem is a powerful tool for verifying the safety of automotive systems, and it should be considered an important part of any ISO 26262 compliance program. For more information on how fuzzing can be used to improve safety, please contact us.

Conclusion

ISO 26262 is an important standard for automakers and suppliers to stay on top of. In this blog post, we've provided you with an overview of ISO 26262, steps to take to comply with the standard, as well as its benefits. If you want to learn more about how our Mayhem fuzzing solution can be integrated into your testing process, be sure to contact us! Our team will guide you through your options so that you can keep your fleet safe while avoiding costly mistakes in compliance efforts. You may also find this overview of ISO SAE 21434: Cybersecurity of Road Vehicles helpful.