Defending Connected Vehicles Against Malware: Challenges and a Solution Framework

Abstract

Vehicles face growing security threats as they become increasingly connected with the external world. Hackers, researchers, and car hobbyists have compromised security keys used by the electronic control units (ECUs) on vehicles, modified ECU software, and hacked wireless transmissions from vehicle key fobs and tire monitoring sensors, using low-cost commercially available tools. However, the most damaging security threats to vehicles are only emerging. One such threat is malware, which can infect vehicles in a variety of ways and cause severe consequences. Defending vehicles against malware attacks must address many unique challenges that have not been well addressed in other types of networks. This paper identifies those vehicle-specific challenges, discusses existing solutions and their limitations, and presents a cloud-assisted vehicle malware defense framework that can address these challenges.