Israeli cybersecurity firm Upstream to open first U.S. security center

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Upstream Security plans to open its first U.S. operations center as the Israeli automotive cybersecurity company gears up for an expected rise in hacks and other cyber threats worldwide.

Upstream said it is opening a "vehicle security operation center" in Ann Arbor, about 40 miles west of Detroit. The center will act as the automotive equivalent of an air traffic control tower, with employees monitoring millions of vehicles on the company's platform for cyber-related threats and vulnerabilities, said Roy Bachar, Upstream's chief business officer.

"We need to be local in the U.S.," he said. "We need to make sure we're sitting close to the ecosystem and have the ability for face to face dialogue with customers there."

Upstream is expanding into the U.S. as cybersecurity risks in the auto industry grow as vehicles become more connected. Upstream said vehicles increasingly face vulnerabilities from smartphone apps that connect to the vehicle and from connecting to electric vehicle charging networks.

Those issues figure to be among topics of discussion this week at the Auto-ISAC Cybersecurity Summit in Dearborn, Mich., where auto executives, security experts and elected officials are slated to speak on a range of related topics. Auto-ISAC, or the Automotive Information Sharing and Analysis Center, is an alliance among 65 major automakers and suppliers that allows them to share and track cyber threats and vulnerabilities worldwide.

This is Upstream's first security center to open outside of Israel. The company also has plans to open locations in Japan and Europe, Bachar said.

"By doing that, we'll enable ourselves to have a 24-7 operation," he said.

Ann Arbor was chosen for its proximity to metro Detroit auto companies and because it is home to the University of Michigan, Bachar said. Upstream hopes to leverage its new location to attract more talent into the automotive cybersecurity space, where skilled labor is in high demand, he said.

"We thought Ann Arbor was the prime location for doing that," he said.

Upstream will start with a team of about 10 people at its Ann Arbor location, which it hopes to have fully operational by the end of the year. The company hopes to add to its team over time, Bachar said.