Page 51 - Cyber Defense eMagazine - November 2017

SECURING THE CONNECTED AND AUTONOMOUS

VEHICLE

DIFFICULT, YET FULFILLING

by DRP; Cybersecurity Lab Engineer

Vehicles have been connected and on the road for years throughout the nation. This has been
placed in the various vehicles and platforms to better the user experience. The consumers have
enjoyed the radios with added functionality, safety services, convenience of having the vehicle
start and defrost in mid-January while the owner is walking to the vehicle. Other connected
features include the user’s cell phone being connected with the car being a pass through,
current maps to guide the driver to their final destination, and other services to maintain a
seamless transition through life with the vehicle as just another point of existence.

The natural extension of this has been the autonomous vehicle. The autonomous vehicles
projects are closing in and will be a fully realized and executed project in the very near future.
These have been promised by the manufacturing community in the next 5-7 years. Initially these
may cohabitate with user driven vehicles, however the autonomous vehicle systems are where
the driving experience is clearly headed. On a tangent, this also has a number of very useful
and consumer friendly options. The benefits are present on many levels, from efficiency to
safety, and other measures. This will truly be another paradigm shift not only for the auto
market, but also consumers.

Potential Issues

These clearly are and will be a fantastic addition for the vehicles and the fleets. These assuredly
will continue to increase our efficiency and enjoyment of riding to our destination. As the
autonomous vehicles become an increasingly integral part of our society, there is one aspect
that have not been properly or fully addressed. If there is any doubt regarding this, there are a
number of vehicle compromises requiring recalls and OTA updates that have been present.
These devices are starting to take over a greater level of the user’s responsibilities in driving,
monitoring, and ownership. With this increasing, the users are more dependent on the vehicle
for these and other functions integral for the user’s experience, e.g. safety.

These functions, the vehicle modules, and the vehicle itself need to be fully secured from
unauthorized access and attempted unauthorized access. The OEMs should use the present
InfoSec standards with equipment. When this has not been accomplished and groups have not
included security into the process, except at the very end, there have been significant issues. If
third party equipment is used with these vehicles, the manufacturer’s efforts at security should

51 Cyber Defense eMagazine – November 2017 Edition
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