Detroit builds cars that talk to the cloud, and finances them through apps. Both need tighter access.
A modern vehicle carries a telematics unit, over-the-air update keys and a supplier software stack that changes every model year. The loan behind it runs through a dealer portal and a mobile app. In Detroit those two worlds share a downtown, and the access questions we hear most often sit where they meet.
- Machine & Workload IdentityCybersecurity
- Secrets & Certificate LifecycleCybersecurity
- Customer Identity (CIAM)Cybersecurity
- Identity Governance & AdministrationCybersecurity
- Healthcare Payer Platforms (Facets)Enterprise Platforms
- Data Governance & AccessData & Analytics
- Governance, Risk & ComplianceCybersecurity
For Detroit area automakers, tier suppliers, auto and mortgage lenders and health insurers, we work on machine identity for vehicle software and update pipelines, engineering access for supplier networks, customer sign-in for lending apps, and governed claims and member data.
Federal connected-vehicle and Safeguards Rule duties shape a lot of it. Cohash is based in Frisco, Texas, works with Michigan teams remotely and flies in for workshops and launches.
Cohash has no Michigan office. Our only US base is Frisco, Texas, so we run Detroit engagements remotely and fly in for discovery sessions, design workshops and launch weeks at plants, tech centers or downtown offices.
- rules
- Michigan breach notification, MCL 445.72Commerce BIS connected vehicles ruleFTC Safeguards Rule breach reporting amendmentMichigan Insurance Code, MCL 500.559
What's specific about Detroit
Each figure comes from a public source, linked on the card.
The Detroit Regional Partnership says the region captured 55% of US automotive R&D investment in 2022 and counted an engineering workforce above 94,000 in 2025, along with 25 automaker headquarters and technical centers.
source ↗ 02 235,100Manufacturing accounts for about 235,100 of the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn metro's 2,038,400 nonfarm jobs in BLS figures for September 2026 (preliminary). Professional and business services employs even more, at 374,000.
source ↗ 03General Motors moved its global headquarters from the Renaissance Center to the Hudson's Detroit development on Woodward Avenue, Automotive World reported on 12 January 2026.
source ↗ 04 5 millionBlue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, headquartered in Detroit and founded in 1939, reports more than 5 million members across all 50 states and 104 million claims processed in 2022.
source ↗Who we work with in Detroit, and the rules they work under
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Automakers and connected vehicle software
Every telematics unit, infotainment head and update server authenticates with certificates and signing keys, often issued by several different teams. Losing track of one signing key is a fleet-wide problem. We inventory those machine identities, tie each key to an owner and a vehicle program, and put issuance and rotation behind a managed PKI and vault.
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Tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers
Engineering partners need CAD, PLM and test data from the automaker, and the automaker needs supplier software bills of materials to answer connected-vehicle sourcing questions. We set up federated access for supplier engineers that expires with the program and keep a record of which outside accounts touched which design files.
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Auto finance and mortgage lending
Lenders and dealers run loan origination through portals, apps and broker integrations, which makes account takeover and leaked API keys the main exposure. We build customer identity with phishing-resistant sign-in and step-up checks at payout, and we wire breach detection into the 30-day FTC reporting clock.
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Health insurers and hospital systems
Payers and health systems in the region exchange claims, eligibility and clinical records with thousands of providers. Our work there is the data layer, mapping member data into governed pipelines, scoping analyst and vendor access, and keeping audit trails a regulator can read.
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Michigan breach notification, MCL 445.72 ↗
Owners and licensors of data must notify affected Michigan residents without unreasonable delay when unencrypted personal information is accessed and acquired. Consumer reporting agencies must also be told once more than 1,000 residents get notices. Knowing failures carry civil fines of up to $250 each, capped at $750,000 per breach.
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Commerce BIS connected vehicles rule (January 2025) ↗
Bars vehicle connectivity and automated driving software with a sufficient nexus to China or Russia from model year 2027, and the matching hardware from model year 2030. Automakers and importers file declarations of conformity, so they need traceable supplier software records.
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FTC Safeguards Rule breach reporting amendment ↗
Non-bank financial institutions, a group the FTC says includes mortgage brokers and motor vehicle dealers, must report a breach of unencrypted data on 500 or more consumers to the FTC within 30 days of discovery. The amendment took effect on 13 May 2024.
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Michigan Insurance Code, MCL 500.559 ↗
Added by 2018 Public Act 690 and in force since 20 January 2021. Insurers and producers licensed in Michigan tell the DIFS director about a qualifying cybersecurity event within 10 business days of determining it happened.
Most requested in Detroit
The services clients in Detroit ask us for most.
- CybersecurityMachine & Workload Identity
- CybersecuritySecrets & Certificate Lifecycle
- CybersecurityCustomer Identity (CIAM)
- CybersecurityIdentity Governance & Administration
- Enterprise PlatformsHealthcare Payer Platforms (Facets)
- Data & AnalyticsData Governance & Access
- CybersecurityGovernance, Risk & Compliance
01Can you help us show the BIS connected-vehicle rule is met for our software?
We handle the identity and records side. That means a list of every signing key and certificate in the vehicle software chain, who issued it and which supplier's code it signs, kept current through each model year. Your trade compliance and legal teams own the declaration itself and the nexus analysis for each supplier.
02We're a dealer group. Does the FTC Safeguards Rule really reach us?
The FTC names motor vehicle dealers among the non-bank financial institutions it covers when they arrange financing. If 500 or more customers' unencrypted data is acquired, you have 30 days to report. We help set up MFA, access reviews and logging so you can tell quickly whether an incident crosses that line.
03Does Michigan have a consumer privacy law like Virginia or Texas?
Not yet. Michigan's main data duty today is the breach statute in MCL 445.72, plus sector rules such as the insurance code. Privacy bills have been introduced in Lansing, so check with counsel before you plan around their absence.
04How do you give supplier engineers access without creating permanent accounts?
We federate with the supplier's own identity provider where it can, so their staff sign in with their company credentials. Access is granted per program and expires on a set date, and an owner on your side re-approves it at each milestone.
05Does your team come to Detroit?
For workshops, cutovers and launch weeks, yes. The rest runs remotely from Frisco, with your engineers and ours on shared working sessions.
More cities in Michigan
acc94956 - 01Detroit Regional Partnership, mobility and automotivedetroitregionalpartnership.com ↗
- 02BLS, Detroit-Warren-Dearborn economy at a glancebls.gov ↗
- 03Automotive World, GM moves global headquarters to Hudson's Detroit (January 2026)automotiveworld.com ↗
- 04Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan fast factsbcbsm.com ↗
- 05Michigan Legislature, MCL 445.72legislature.mi.gov ↗
- 06Michigan Legislature, MCL 500.559legislature.mi.gov ↗
- 07BIS, connected vehicles final rule press release (January 2025)bis.gov ↗
- 08FTC, Safeguards Rule breach reporting amendmentftc.gov ↗
Tell us what you're running. We'll tell you what we'd do first.
A 30-minute working session with a senior engineer. No slides.
- The platform and the version you're on
- Where you need to get to, and by when
- What's custom: rules, plugins, integrations
- Any audit finding or deadline driving it