External attacks on automotive system through wireless communication channels

Abstract

The reliance of today’s automotive system on electronics control system is expected to make the cars to be state-of-the-art vehicle. However, this technology dependency results in the cars to be exposed to attacks by the hacker through the manipulation of electronics system. Previously, for the attacker to compromise car’s system, he/she must access the car directly and internally. However, with the incorporation of wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and cellular into automotive system for example in its telematic units, the attacks are evolved from internal attacks into remote attack where the adversary does not have to internally access the car’s system. This paper analyses the vulnerabilities of the automotive system by the remote attacks performed through Bluetooth and cellular. Once the vulnerabilities were analyzed, the threats imposed by these vulnerabilities are accessed. Two scenarios namely theft and surveillance are used to exemplify the threats that are carried by the vulnerability of the automotive system to the remote attacks. From the vulnerability analysis and threat assessment, it can be deduced that the automotive system is vulnerable to attacks and proper countermeasure must be taken to curb the implication from the attacks.

Keywords: Hardware Trojan, Insertion, Third-part IP, Trust