Introduction to Automotive Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting digital assets from malicious attacks. It is also referred to as “information technology security” or “electronic information security.” The term is used in a variety of contexts, but in this article, we will be considering cybersecurity in the context of automobiles. The automobile industry has grown over the years, from the era of steam engines to internal combustion engines and now battery-powered vehicles. As automobiles passed through these stages, the desire to see them connected also increased, which led to connected vehicles. Connected vehicles are vehicles built with the capability to other devices via wireless networks. While there are a myriad of advantages that accrues to this innovation, there are also a number of risks associated with it, which gave rise to automotive cybersecurity. In the context of road vehicles, cybersecurity is the protection of automotive electronic systems, communication networks, control algorithms, software, users, and underlying data from malicious attacks, damage, unauthorized access, or manipulation.
Automotive cybersecurity requires implementing proven defences to:
- Prevent malicious parties from stealing data (such as GPS location)
- Prevent hackers from being able to remotely control or manipulate vehicles (for example, disabling the burglar alarm or tricking the collision avoidance system), and
- Make sure no one is able to damage your vehicle (for example, resetting your oil change counter so you don’t get your oil changed on time).
Automotive Cybersecurity Attack Methods
What should an actor do if they want to take control of a vehicle or its systems? They must first find a way to gain access to the car’s systems. This allows them to compromise an electronic control unit (ECU) (the automotive industry term for an automotive IoT device or computer) and find a feature to compromise.
- Direct physical attacks. These attacks occur when someone has direct physical access to a vehicle, such as when it is being repaired or when someone breaks into it. Onboard vehicle networks, ports, and various connectors are frequently used in these attacks. An attacker could install hardware or software that allows them to easily gain control of your vehicle later (while you’re driving it).
- Indirect physical vulnerabilities. In contrast to the first, this type of attack necessitates the use of a medium. Firmware updates, the use of SD cards and USB devices, and so on are examples of such mediums. An attacker, for example, could persuade a vehicle owner to plug in an infected MP3 player.
- Wireless vulnerabilities. This can be anything from short-range attacks like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to long-range mechanisms like GPS or cellular technologies. The hacker does not need physical access to your vehicle to conduct these attacks.
How to Secure Connected Vehicles
There are different controls that can be built into connected vehicles to ensure that the security posture is maintained, some of which are:
- Threat Assessment & Risk Management
- Threat Modeling
- Security by Design
- Security Hardening (Secure Coding Practices, MISRA and Cert-C compliance)
- Penetration & Fuzz Testing
- Recovery after Compromise
- Employ security controls at ECU’s and Backend servers to restrict access
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