The race to develop safe, autonomous vehicles is accelerating, with cyber security at the heart of the challenge. As vehicles become increasingly connected and intelligent, the potential for cyberattacks grows, with the number of successful vehicle hacks doubling each year.
Deakin University’s world-leading cyber security researchers, in collaboration with Bosch Australia, are developing cutting-edge technologies to secure the future of transportation. From early intrusion detection to secure vehicle-to-vehicle communication, their work aims to ensure the safe and reliable operation of autonomous vehicles.
With decades of expertise in cyber security and a commitment to innovation, Deakin is equipping the automotive industry to navigate the complex intersection of connectivity, automation and safety.
The road to autonomous vehicles
The development of self-driving technologies requires robust systems for secure communication between vehicles. Deakin researchers are creating new platforms and software to make this vision a reality.
Technological progression means cars will change more in the next decade than they have in the past century. Not only will they be powered and wired differently, but it's also likely that we will not be driving them. Thanks to developments in instrumentation, automation, the Internet of Things (IoT) and secure vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems, experts predict the car will be in control of all aspects of driving in most driving conditions by 2030. A key element of this new autonomous world will be the capacity of cars to safely communicate with each other.
Our vehicles of the future will take the form of complex mobile computers, designed to be automated, connected and, where possible, cooperative. But the security of these vehicles – including the interconnected systems and underlying electronics – will be critical for both community safety and industry growth.
Pioneering cyber-safe technology
World-leading cyber security researchers from the Deakin Cyber Research and Innovation Centre are collaborating with Bosch Australia to ensure next-generation vehicles are cyber-safe. The partnership aims to advance state-of-the-art systems, enabling secure and trusted cooperation between vehicles. This work will improve understanding of the security and privacy limits of connected vehicles and support their safe deployment.
Recent progress in vehicle-to-vehicle networking has been driven by technologies like dedicated short-range communications and 5G-vehicle-to-everything (V2X)-based systems. These innovations enable communication between vehicles and infrastructure, such as lane markings, road signs and traffic lights. Together, they promise to enhance road safety, reduce congestion and emissions, and pave the way for a safe transition to autonomous driving.
However, connected automotive systems face new challenges. While they benefit from Internet connectivity, they are also exposed to cyber threats previously unfamiliar to automotive technology. Resilience in future systems will require robust security and trust in software and on-board instrumentation to prevent vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit from anywhere in the world.
Securing the future of transportation
To address these challenges, Deakin researchers are developing a secure automotive framework. This platform integrates technologies and methodologies to protect automotive computer systems and ensures vehicles can connect with external services and other vehicles safely and securely. It covers areas such as secure firmware and software updates, trusted cooperation and secure connectivity, with the goal of making this technology accessible to the broader automotive sector.
A critical part of this project is the training of highly skilled cyber security specialists for the automotive sector, which is significantly affected by the global shortage of professionals in this field. Four PhD researchers are contributing to this work, gaining hands-on experience at the Bosch technical centre in Clayton.
Connectivity of devices across industry verticals enables solutions once inconceivable within the automotive industry. With high end user expectations, increasingly shorter development life cycles and the pervasive challenge of ongoing cybersecurity threats, considerable changes are required in engineering methods and business models traditionally adopted in embedded systems development.
Luc Bulot
Chief Expert – Vehicle Access Systems, Robert Bosch
Preventing unwanted cyber attacks
The Deakin team is working to ensure secure cooperation between vehicles exchanging intelligence, enabling vehicle systems to make secure real-time decisions independently of the driver.
As the autonomous and assistive capabilities, such as cruise control and automatic braking, of vehicles have increased and vehicles have become increasingly internet-connected, they have become targets for remote compromise by people with malicious intent.
There have been several well-publicised instances of vehicle hacking. These include the 2015 Jeep hack by Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek, which allowed them to disable brakes and control steering, leading to the recall of 1.4 million vehicles. Other examples include the 2016 Tesla hack by Keen Security Lab, which compromised the controller area network and the 2019 Tesla 3 infotainment system hack by Amat Cama and Richard Zhu, performed during a Tesla competition. In 2020, Lennert Wouters at KU Leuven demonstrated a Bluetooth key fob hack on Tesla’s Model X.
Addressing emerging cyber threats
The number of successful vehicle attacks has doubled every year, with up to 80% of hacks executed remotely. Remote takeovers of vehicles, such as the Jeep Cherokee hack by white hat (ethical) hackers, highlight the critical need for advancing cyber-resilience techniques for vehicles.
This project is developing new technologies, platforms and software that can support the cyber-safe and secure operation of vehicles and vehicular systems. The research seeks to mitigate the impact of cyber security attacks by early detection of intrusion and prevention of unauthorised access. While some level of risk may always exist in connected and autonomous vehicles, the predicted benefits, including improved safety and drivability, underscore the importance of this work.
A four-step approach
The research project is structured around four key elements. Firstly, the team is developing end-to-end secure firmware and software updates, as well as telematics and infotainment delivery systems for connected vehicles, including secure gateways.
Secondly, they are creating secure and trusted cooperation for vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-everything communication. This enables vehicles to interact with one another and behave collectively within a self-organised paradigm.
Thirdly, new decentralised authentication schemes with intrusion detection mechanisms are being developed. These include capabilities for authenticating, recording, reporting, fail-safes, alerting (including forensics) and addressing security breaches effectively.
Finally, the team is focusing on reducing the risk of data tampering. This involves equipping vehicle computer systems with the ability to identify counterfeiting and sensitive information disclosure from side-channel attacks (e.g. software bugs) and developing countermeasures to enhance the security of cooperative vehicle-to-vehicle systems.
Collaborative expertise and industry connections
The project is being undertaken in collaboration with Bosch Australia. The researchers in this project are all based within the Deakin Cyber Research and Innovation Centre, part of Deakin’s Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment, led by Deakin Cyber's Research Director, Professor Robin Doss. Professor Doss was named Cyber Security Researcher of the Year in 2019 by the Australian Information Security Association (AISA).
Deakin’s unique cyber ecosystem provides the full spectrum of education, research and translation across all relevant disciplines. The cyber ecosystem includes Deakin Cyber, CyRise – the Southern Hemisphere’s only dedicated cyber security accelerator, the Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation (IISRI), Deakin Energy, the Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute (A2I2) and the Centre for Supply Chain and Logistics.
Deakin’s business partners in cyber security include companies like DXC Technology, NTT, Cyber CX, PWC and Deloitte, as well as global automotive companies, defence and government agencies.
Funding support for innovation
The project has received funding ($494,500) from the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (DISER) under the Automotive Engineering Graduate Program (AEGP) and is being undertaken in collaboration with Bosch Australia.
If you want more information on this project, contact Professor Robin Doss.