RunSafe CEO to address U.S. connected vehicle rule at Detroit summit

RunSafe Security founder and CEO Joseph M. Saunders will speak at the Automotive Cybersecurity Summit 2026 in Detroit on July 29-30 about the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Connected Vehicle Rule. The session comes as automakers and suppliers face new compliance demands tied to software origin, SBOMs and supply chain risk.

Why it matters: - Automakers and Tier-1 suppliers are facing tighter federal compliance expectations for software-defined vehicles. - The BIS Connected Vehicle Rule adds pressure to prove where software comes from and to monitor that risk across the full product lifecycle. - Consumer concern is already high. A 2025 Connected Car Cyber Safety & Security Index found 65% of drivers believe remote hacking is possible, and 77% see third-party components as a severe cyber risk.

What happened: - RunSafe Security founder and CEO Joseph M. Saunders will lead a solo keynote at the Automotive Cybersecurity Summit 2026. - The session, titled "Meeting U.S. Connected Vehicle Rule Origin Requirements," is scheduled for July 29-30, 2026, in Detroit. - The event will be held at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Detroit Downtown - Fort Shelby, 525 W Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, Michigan 48226. - RunSafe said the talk will focus on how OEMs and Tier-1 suppliers can respond to the BIS Connected Vehicle Rule.

The details: - Saunders plans to discuss technical approaches for mapping code provenance quickly. - The session will cover automated, compliance-ready Software Bills of Materials, or SBOMs. - The talk will also address how to remove foreign-adversary-linked components from multi-tier supply chains. - RunSafe says its memory relocation techniques protect embedded systems against runtime exploits without requiring code rewrites. - The company also points to build-time SBOMs as a way to capture software components that binary analysis and scanning can miss. - RunSafe says build-time SBOMs can record source files, libraries and toolchains while that information is still visible during the build process. - In automotive software, static linking and aggressive optimization can remove identifying signals needed for later analysis.

Between the lines: - The message is broader than one rule. RunSafe is framing automotive cybersecurity as an ongoing engineering and compliance process, not a one-time audit. - The company is also drawing a sharp distinction between open-source-focused scanning tools and methods that can surface proprietary or commercial components, which are central to BIS compliance. - The event positions software provenance and supply chain visibility as core issues for the next phase of vehicle security.

What's next: - Saunders will be available for one-on-one interviews, technical briefings and on-camera commentary at the summit. - Press credentials can be arranged through Kari Ritacco at RedIron PR, +1 703-928-9996. - The summit will likely be a venue for more industry discussion on how OEMs and suppliers will operationalize the new connected vehicle requirements.

The bottom line: - RunSafe is using the Detroit summit to push a simple message: connected vehicle compliance now depends on knowing exactly what is in the software supply chain, and proving it continuously.