Security of autonomous vehicle as a cyber-physical system

Abstract

Security of (semi)-autonomous vehicles is a growing concern due to, first, the growing reliance of car functionalities on diverse (semi)-autonomous systems; second, the increased exposure of the such functionalities to potential attackers; third, the interaction of a single vehicle with myriads of other smart systems in an modern urban traffic infrastructure. In this paper, we review the security objectives of Autonomous Vehicle (AV) and argue that AV is a kind of Cyber-Physical System (CPS) for control and operations of the vehicle. We attempt to identify the core issues of securing an AV by modeling an AV as a special kind of CPS, which tend to be implemented by a complex interconnected embedded system hardware. Subsequently, the technical challenges of AV security are identified.