The autonomous vehicles will be able to save themselves from physical dangers, through their systems, but will they be able to save themselves from the information security and cyber threats? Prof. Arel Avinari from Afka College of Engineering explains
One of the hottest areas in the technological world these days is the smart vehicle, or, by its other names, the connected or autonomous vehicle. Many companies are engaged in the field - both automotive and technology corporations. Only a few days ago we were informed about the entry of Apple into this world.
As is the nature of something new, the subject raises many questions, among other things regarding the security of the information that these vehicles will store in them and cyber security. Prof. Arel Avinari, head of the infrastructure systems engineering and management program at Afka College, and head of the Center for Infrastructure and Logistics, addressed this at the ICS Cybersec Conference of People and Computers, which was held this week.
The conference, which discussed cyber protection of vital infrastructures and control and command systems (SCADA), was held at the Avenue Conference Center in Kiryat Airport, with the participation of hundreds of professionals in the field. The moderators of the event were Yehuda Conforts, the editor-in-chief of People and Computers, and Daniel Ehrenreich, a cyber defense consultant and lecturer.
According to Prof. Avinari, "We are facing a transportation revolution based on connectivity. All vehicles will be able to talk to each other (V2V - Vehicle To Vehicle) and each vehicle will be able to provide basic details to vehicles in its vicinity - immediately, without the need for the cloud or any intermediary, not even a smartphone. This raises many questions of cyber and information security, and is currently in place in the main countries that produce cars - the United States, Japan and European countries. In addition, we are also preparing for standardization for connectivity between vehicles and infrastructure, such as traffic lights, billboards, etc... (V2I - Vehicle To Infrastructure)".
He explained that - "This was born out of a safety need. A large part of the traffic accidents could have been avoided if the drivers had known about the threat approaching them, which are not in their field of vision. This information is currently not in the hands of drivers due to the lack of line of sight, but even if the driver can see - he does not always react in time."
"On this background, a special frequency of 5.9 GHz was dedicated to the connected vehicle - Dedicated Short Range Communication (or DSRC). Each vehicle will have an antenna that will transmit every 10 milliseconds information about the vehicle and its location in space to all cars within a 300 meter radius around it. In particular, it will transmit information about events that should be of interest to the vehicles in the vicinity: emergency braking, activation of airbags and any other action that may indicate a problem with the safety of the trip."
"A large part of the cars that will be produced in the coming years will contain DSRC components, when soon this will be a mandatory requirement, at least for new cars. We, at Afka College, are not allowed to use this frequency for experimental purposes, because it is reserved by the Ministry of Communications for the needs of the Ministry of Defense. There will be no choice but to release him", noted Prof. Avinari.
"First of all - smart public transportation"
According to him, "The forecast is that the first to use this technology will be the public vehicles: public transportation, emergency and rescue vehicles. So, for example, they will be able to broadcast their presence to a traffic light that will give them priority. When the cars will be autonomous, there will be no need for the driver to receive a warning about a pothole in the road - the information will go directly to the car's mechanisms and they will be able to respond."
However, along with that comes the concerns: "There is a concern that when there are masses of vehicles roaming the streets and each of them communicates with all the others, it will be a loophole that invites a thief", said Prof. Avinari. "A hostile party could deliver wrong messages on purpose, disguise itself as a non-existent vehicle, confuse entities or make part of the information disappear."
He warned that “in a scenario where more than 90% of vehicles are equipped with connectivity, a hostile takeover or disruption could lead to dire scenarios. A system that fulfills a vision of apparent safety, such as the safe smart city, can lead to a lack of safety and injury."
He also said that "this system is exposed to earthly and even space natural hazards - solar storms that will disrupt the GPS satellites and the system, which of course will depend on it."
"One of the things that makes us happy is that the DSRC is a unique frequency, which does not require reliance on the cloud, but there is concern among professionals about the opening of these frequencies, which may cause privacy and safety vulnerabilities," noted Prof. Avinari.
אז מה עושים?
"One of the ways to prepare for this is to use public 'keys' that will be issued by recognized authorities, that will be defined by the state," he said. "Each new vehicle will be equipped with a collection of keys, which will be used for the first year. They will validate the vehicle's identity and alternate between them during that period. Then, during the annual test, the vehicle will receive a new set of keys."
He concluded by saying that "in addition, it is necessary to encrypt the information that the vehicles transmit. We are now testing, in an experiment, what encryption means in terms of the information load."
The article was first published on the People and Computers website
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One response
The goal is to bring in money from reports and not safety
It has long been possible to make the traffic lights smarter, to prevent accidents at intersections
Instead they installed cameras to introduce money