Security Risk Analysis Approach for Safety-Critical Systems of Connected Vehicles

Abstract

Modern vehicles are no longer merely mechanical systems but are monitored and controlled by various electronic systems. Safety-critical systems of connected vehicles become vulnerable to cyberattacks because of increasing interconnection. At present, the security risk analysis of connected vehicles is mainly based on qualitative methods, while these methods are usually subjective and lack consideration for functional safety. In order to solve this problem, we propose in this paper a security risk analysis framework for connected vehicles based on formal methods. Firstly, we introduce the electronic and electrical architecture of the connected vehicle and analyze the attack surfaces of the in-vehicle safety-critical systems from three levels of sensors, in-vehicle networks, and controllers. Secondly, we propose a method to model the target of evaluation (i.e., in-vehicle safety-critical system) as a Markov decision process and use probabilistic computation tree logic to formally describe its security properties. Then, a probabilistic model checker PRISM is used to analyze the security risk of target systems quantitatively according to security properties. Finally, we apply the proposed approach to analyze and compare the security risks of the collision warning system under a distributed and centralized electrical and electronic architecture. In addition, from a practical point of view, we propose a Markov model generation method based on a SysML activity diagram, which can simplify our modeling process. The evaluation results show that we can have a quantitative understanding of the security risks at the system level in the early stage of system design.

The evolution of embedded systems in automotive industry: A global review

“…Moreover, there has been a growing emphasis on simulation-based testing and inspection of engine control units during the manufacturing phase, contributing to the overall quality and reliability of automotive embedded systems (Ham et al, 2017). However, it is important to note that with the advancements in automotive embedded systems, there have been concerns regarding the security risks associated with connected vehicles (Luo et al, 2020).…”

A Framework for Cybersecurity Requirements Management in the Automotive Domain

“…PASTA (i.e., process for attack simulation and threat analysis) [ 21 ], a seven-stage threat analysis method, complements the STRIDE method. Markov chain methods can perform quantitative threat analysis, providing a more intuitive and convincing result for the entire system [ 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 ]. The GTS (i.e., graph transformation system) method is a formal method of transforming the system structure graph, which can easily and quickly realize the conversion between the overall architecture and the module architecture [ 27 ].…”

Autonomous Vehicles Technological Trends

“…Currently, vehicular communications are a developing area with a multitude of application possibilities, but they still have a long way to go in order to solve the security and infrastructure problems presented. In spite of this, one of the issues of greatest concern in cooperative systems is to guarantee the security of communications, where in [23], we can find an analysis of the risks.…”