Software Defined Vehicle Security

Securing V2X communication exchanges for Automated Telematic Control Unit

Connected vehicles interact with V2X applications deployed in cloud or edge servers for multiple functionalities such as data offloading, remote monitoring and diagnostics, software updates, and so on. To support these functionalities, they are equipped with a Telematic Control Unit (TCU) which represents the main vehicle gateway between the in-vehicle network and external entities. Current TCUs integrate multiple radio technologies such as cellular network (4G/5G), C-V2X, Wi-Fi and can be extended with other bearers such as satellite communication. Being the main component from which data packets are going in and out from the vehicle, it is important to ensure that the TCU can keep a safe and secured behaviour against potential attacks from external entities. Among potential attacks, we can denote GNSS jamming and spoofing, network flooding, data messages corruption. In this work, we focus on securing the information exchange between vehicular TCU and backend servers from the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and the service providers. Given the vulnerabilities of technologies used for V2X communication, it is very likely that a TCU can be attacked, potentially resulting into severe consequences on the on-board vehicle equipment if timely detection and countermeasures are not implemented.