Why Cybersecurity is Important

Overall, the importance of data communication within the vehicle has increased significantly greatly in recent years. Some of the main drivers are ADAS/AD functionalities including the use of sensors with high data rates, modern E/E vehicle architectures utilizing high-bandwidth data backbones, and connectivity for various purposes, e.g., infotainment and online services, wireless interfaces, and over-the-air updates. 

Many of these different features are specifically enabled by the utilization of automotive Ethernet - expanding the vehicles communication network with a high-bandwidth, well-established, and scalable option. More data being exchanged paired with the vehicle becoming more connected raises questions about automotive cybersecurity demonstrated, among others, by the following points. 

• Higher levels of autonomy and increased implementation of advanced driver assistance systems result in more safety-relevant data within the vehicle’s communication network. Reliable and secure communication is the mandatory basis for all activities of autonomous driving. 
• Growing connectivity driven by infotainment services, over-the-air updates, and V2X applications extends the potential attack surface for malicious purposes by providing remote entry points.
• Another crucial aspect rises with more and more electric vehicles on the roads; a safe and secure interaction with the charging station infrastructure must be ensured.
• In addition to the conceptional need for cybersecurity, specific incidents in the past have explicitly demonstrated the danger of security breaches, both in terms of financial loss, e.g., the vehicle being damaged or stolen, and more importantly, in terms of potential safety and health risks.
• Furthermore, security incidents are often accompanied by reputational damage. 

To tackle all these different risks, cybersecurity focuses on three key targets to ensure secure communication, which is essential to protect safety-critical functions: 

1. Authenticity - verify that the source of data is a trusted network participant
2. Integrity - verify that the data is not altered during transmission
3. Confidentiality - ensure only permitted participants have access to the data.

To summarize, current trends in the automotive industry lead to a massive increase of the potential attack surface of vehicles. The different above-mentioned examples elucidate that cybersecurity must be addressed properly, together with functional safety. Whereas the latter is standardized in ISO 26262, for cybersecurity new guidelines were introduced: UN regulation UNECE WP.29 R155 sets up the regulatory framework regarding cybersecurity for vehicle approvals for all UNECE member states. Since July 2022, it has been mandatory for all new vehicle type approvals and from July 2024, it will be mandatory for all new vehicle approvals.

Cybersecurity Testing with dSPACE

A crucial requirement for UNECE WP.29 R155 compliance is sufficient testing of the implemented cybersecurity measures. In particular, threat mitigations for vehicle communication include that "the vehicle shall verify the authenticity and integrity of messages it receives" and that "confidential data transmitted to or from the vehicle shall be protected" [1]. In addition to the cybersecurity aspect, the growing complexity in today’s in-vehicle communication architectures results in increasing demands towards test platforms. With a broad set of products and solutions for simulation and validation of bus & network communication, dSPACE supports the customers at all stages during development, from early functional testing in a software-in-the-loop environment to testing of an integrated ECU network in a hardware-in-the-loop setup. The well-established dSPACE real-time simulators also provide a versatile platform to perform various types of cybersecurity testing, e.g., conformance testing to demonstrate functional correctness, penetration testing to uncover possible vulnerabilities, and fuzz testing to check for hidden edge cases. With access to the bus & network communication at run time, a broad range of reproducible attacks can be simulated, e.g., via manipulation (man-in-the-middle, denial-of-service, tampering), monitoring (spying), and data logging & replay (spoofing, replay attacks). dSPACE supports relevant security protocols throughout the whole tool chain, e.g., MACsec, IPsec, TLS, and SecOC. These protocols play an important role in ensuring the above-mentioned key attributes of secure communication: Authenticity, integrity, and confidentiality. Together with security-specialized partners, we offer customers end-to-end solutions well-suited to perform the required cybersecurity tests, e.g., validating TLS-protected Ethernet communication [3].

Additionally, dSPACE Consulting offers comprehensive support for your projects, combining the required technical know-how with many years of practical experience. Together, we will be prepared for the upcoming challenges of validating vehicle safety and cybersecurity.