When it comes to connected cars, Redbend, an Israeli software company, is sitting in a prime position.

As automakers add software to vehicles, those systems will require updates, just as home computers and mobile devices do. And Redbend's specialty, first developed for the smartphone and personal computer markets, is to update software quickly and efficiently.

Redbend expects the field to grow exponentially -- and beyond infotainment. That's why Harman International bought Redbend for $170 million early this year.

To update vehicle software quickly, unobtrusively and securely, Redbend focuses on sending the minimum amount of code necessary and providing defenses to keep hackers from messing with on-board computers.

Software transformation

"You don't need to send the whole version" of the software, says Yoram Berholtz, director of automotive for Redbend, based in Hod Hasharon, Israel. "You only need to send the part that is changed. The same is applicable for the engine control and infotainment systems. It's not making sense to send the whole image over the air. This is our secret sauce."

That expertise has put Redbend at the forefront of the software transformation taking place inside vehicles, says Egil Juliussen, director of research in automotive technology for IHS Automotive.

"They have that experience, having updated hundreds of millions of smartphones. So they leveraged that expertise because software needs to updated remotely in the auto industry as well.

"If you go 10 years down the road, a vast amount of software is going to be updated over the air," says Juliussen. "The advantages and costs are too great for it not to happen."

Over-the-air updates

Earlier this decade, most system updates were done in dealership service departments, where technicians installed the updates via flash drives.

That's the route Ford Motor Co. took in 2012 when it was flooded with customer complaints about bugs in its MyFord Touch infotainment system. At the time, customers had a choice of taking their vehicles to dealerships or inserting the flash drive themselves. Customers had to download the software patch to their computers, transfer it to a flash drive and carry the flash drive to their vehicles.

Over-the-air updates have been confined to telematics and infotainment units, already connected to the cloud. But that's about to change, says Berholtz. The telematics software is held in the head unit, or control box, of a car's media system.

"I think that the next frontier is to update not only the head unit and the telematics, it's to update all the ECUs [electronic control units] to have a more holistic solution," says Berholtz. That means updating software bumper to bumper, from engine controls to steering, braking and suspension systems, he says.

Over-the-air updates mean that carmakers can avoid recalls and bypass dealership installations, increasing efficiency and reducing cost. But the increase in data updates also raises the risk of invasion by hackers.

Says Berholtz: "If you know the head unit is connected to the cloud, that opens the door to malware and viruses that can get from the cloud into the car."

So carmakers need to protect the car's internal, embedded systems -- such as engine, steering and brakes -- from viruses arriving from the cloud via the telematics and infotainment systems. That's Redbend's other business, isolating autos' critical software from hackers while enabling over-the-air updates.

Better customer relations

Berholtz says he expects Redbend to grow its automotive business much as it did its mobile device business.

Berholtz believes the capacity to do remote updates can improve the automaker-customer relationship. Juliussen says Tesla is a leader in over-the-air updates.

Berholtz declines to name any of Redbend's customers, but a June 25 Wells Fargo analyst report lists Tesla as one.

"You need to remember that by having an over-the-air update service, this is the first time OEMs will have a direct relationship with the owner," Berholtz says. "Until today, most of the relationship is done via the dealer. [With over-the-air updates] this relationship between the OEM and the owner will be better."

In conjunction with the capabilities of parent company Harman, Redbend can combine infotainment updates, software security and analytics.

Says Berholtz: "I think this is the future. The future is not so far from now."