1. Network and security practices in automotive systems
Alexios Lekidis

2. Who am I? Senior Researcher at ForeScout
Guest Lecturer at the Security Group of the Eindhoven University of Technology
Internet of Things (2IMN15) course
Programming methods (2IPC0) course
Research areas: model-based development / performance evaluation / network monitoring in embedded systems
Short Bio
Software Architect in ASML’s Metrology department
PostDoc in Dependability and Security group, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
PhD in Theoretical Computer Science, University of Grenoble
Master in Electrical Engineering , Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Specialization: Electronics and Telecommunications

3. Today’s topic

4. Overview The evolution towards connected cars
Threats in automotive systems
Automotive security: Scope and objectives

5. Overview The evolution towards connected cars
Threats in automotive systems
Automotive security: Scope and objectives

6. Car historical evolution
Embedded area:
Infotainment area:
R&D area:
1886
2000
2020

7. V2X area: 2012-ongoing
Embedded area:
Infotainment area:
1886
2005
2020

8. New mobility area: 2020-onwards
V2X area: 2012-ongoing
New mobility area: 2020-onwards
Embedded area:
Infotainment area:
1886
2005
2020

9. In-vehicle software complexity
Question 2: Does Facebook have more software code than a car?

10. Why vehicles are getting so complicated?
V2X for vehicle communication to everything
Road Side Units (RSU) assisting the communication between vehicles
Backend server performing traffic management

11. Vehicle to everything communication scenarios
Wireless / Cellular communication
Information disseminated to neighbouring vehicles / road stations

12. What about inside the vehicle?
Cars are comprised by one or several Electronic Control Units (ECUs)
Each ECU is an networked embedded device with the following components

13. Challenges in automotive system design
In-vehicle systems in a glance
Powertrain subsystem : 1) generation of power in the engine ) transmission and gear control
chassis subsystem : In-vehicle active safety (ABS, suspension system )
body subsystem : in-vehicle body / climate control
Passive safety subsystem : airbags / seat belt pretensioners
telematics subsystem : Infotainment (GPS, CD player)
Slide 1: title page
Slide 2: project information
Slide 3: your future perspective

14. Overview The evolution towards connected cars
Threats in automotive systems
Automotive security: Scope and objectives

15. Is it safe? Buyers demand modern connected infotainment systems
Cars are shifting towards being autonomous
Additional risks as vehicle interfaces are exposed to possible threats
Wireless and cellular connections (e.g. WiFi, 4G)
Risk severity increases to automotive software cannot easily be updated
No monthly security update

16. When security threats become safety-related
Car = Cyber Physical System (CPS)
Vital risks to vehicle passengers
Crysler’s Jeep Cherokee
CIA’s Vault 7
Smartphone navigation apps
Cyber-security threats target add-on features and functionalities of the vehicle
target critical in-vehicle components (e.g. engine, breaks)

17. Ransomware Encrypted individual messages from the ransomware client
Vehicle could not start without paying the ransom
up to 70% of the ransomware business victims and ~50% of consumer victims actually pay the ransom
Total sum roughly $1 billion in 2017

18. Frequently exploited attack surfaces

19. Attack motivations Adversaries:
Vehicle theft/copy the vehicle’s architectural designs and specifications
espionage for tracking and recording sensitive information
Car dealers:
Suppression of vehicle notifications / avoidance of incurring replacement expenses targeting the safety of the vehicle
Nation states, underworld and terror organizations:
physical harm and wide-spread damage
OBDII unit for in-vehicle diagnostics
Interesting fact: Did you know that any car dealer can sell you any car like it’s a new one?

20. Example attack steps Understand the information that are exchanged
Find a vulnerability in the vehicle’s “exposed” interfaces
Format the information to be injected to the vehicle in a way that they are handled by the other ECUs
Navigate to the ECU the attack is targeted on and interrupt/stop its functionality
Transmitted mobility data
SenderID
Position
Speed
Heading
Addressing details
Geographical region

21. Overview The evolution towards connected cars
Threats in automotive systems
Automotive security: Scope and objectives

22. Security in connected cars
Objectives:
Protecting all communications
Protecting each sensor, actuator, microcontroller (MCU), and microprocessor
Safely and effectively managing the entire vehicle over the air (OTA)
Mitigating advanced threats
Standards define cybersecurity practises (e.g. J3061)
Are not designed to meet all the objectives
Are more guidelines than threat detection and protection mechanisms
Instead the questions to be answered by hardware or software security solutions are:
How to detect an attack on a vehicle?
What should be done once detected?

23. What we learned so far: Security related to safety
Automotive systems contain more in software than any other system
Question: Why is automotive security so complex?
Answer: Coming up in part 2..