Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
Université d'Ottawa
$32,000.00
Strengthening Automotive Cybersecurity through Security-Aware Vehicle Control: A Systems and Control-Theoretic Perspective
FY 2024-25
Summary
Advancements in embedded systems, sensor technologies, communication devices, and artificial intelligence have resulted in vehicles that are pervasively monitored by dozens of digital computers coordinated via internal vehicular networks. While this evolution in vehicle connectivity has propelled major advancements in driving efficiency, it has also introduced a new range of potential risks, including the unwanted access of third parties with malicious motives which can endanger the driving safety. It has been shown experimentally that bypassing the network security protections of a car is not hard for attackers who can also completely erase any evidence of their presence. Such incidents have automotive industries justly concerned about the security of their vehicles, without which vehicle autonomy and connectivity will not gain consumer acceptance. Despite recent progress in vehicle attack prevention, there is still no clear solution to address the safety of the vehicle when cyberattack manages to access the vehicle control loop, i.e., the last defense line after which the vehicle motion is affected by the attack.
The proposed new research approach will examine at the security of vehicle control systems, leveraging knowledge about vehicle dynamics and control to provide more effective and less costly security features for vehicle operations. Security-aware vehicle control systems will be developed to withstand cyberattacks while restoring full (or an acceptable level of) functionality. The goal is to reach to a systematic and practically implementable control design framework that will take vehicle performance and functional safety issues (e.g., collision avoidance and optimal lane keeping) into account, while also handling cyber threats separately. This research will advance base control architectures that were initially developed without cybersecurity considerations to the next level by adding attack detection and attack mitigation modules with minimal complexity and lowest modifications.
Program
Discovery Grants Program - Individual
Recipient
Location
Ontario, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
RGPIN-2024-03912
Name nom
Pirani, Mohammad
Department département
Mechanical Engineering
Organization id
28
Institution établissement
Université d'Ottawa
Province en
Ontario
Province fr
Ontario
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2024
Competition year année de concours
2024
Award amount
32000
Program id
RGPIN
Program name en
Discovery Grants Program - Individual
Program name fr
Programme de subventions à la découverte - individuelles
Group en
DISCOVERY RESEARCH
Group fr
RECHERCHE AXÉE SUR LA DÉCOUVERTE
Committee code
1507
Committee name en
Computer Science
Committee name fr
Sciences informatiques
Area of application code
1206
Area of application group en
Advancement of knowledge
Area of application group fr
Avancement des connaissances
Area of application en
Engineering
Area of application fr
Génie
Research subject code
2509
Research subject group en
Electrical and electronic engineering
Research subject group fr
Génie électrique et électronique
Research subject en
Control systems
Research subject fr
Asservissements
Field of research list names en
Not available
Field of research list names fr
Non disponible
Socioeconomic objective list names en
Not available
Socioeconomic objective list names fr
Non disponible
Application title
Strengthening Automotive Cybersecurity through Security-Aware Vehicle Control: A Systems and Control-Theoretic Perspective
Keywords
systems and control; cybersecurity; attack detection; attack mitigation; zero dynamis attacks; replay attacks; covert attacks; automotive systems control; vehicle antilock braking systems; vehicle electric power steering systems
Application summary
Advancements in embedded systems, sensor technologies, communication devices, and artificial intelligence have resulted in vehicles that are pervasively monitored by dozens of digital computers coordinated via internal vehicular networks. While this evolution in vehicle connectivity has propelled major advancements in driving efficiency, it has also introduced a new range of potential risks, including the unwanted access of third parties with malicious motives which can endanger the driving safety. It has been shown experimentally that bypassing the network security protections of a car is not hard for attackers who can also completely erase any evidence of their presence. Such incidents have automotive industries justly concerned about the security of their vehicles, without which vehicle autonomy and connectivity will not gain consumer acceptance. Despite recent progress in vehicle attack prevention, there is still no clear solution to address the safety of the vehicle when cyberattack manages to access the vehicle control loop, i.e., the last defense line after which the vehicle motion is affected by the attack.
The proposed new research approach will examine at the security of vehicle control systems, leveraging knowledge about vehicle dynamics and control to provide more effective and less costly security features for vehicle operations. Security-aware vehicle control systems will be developed to withstand cyberattacks while restoring full (or an acceptable level of) functionality. The goal is to reach to a systematic and practically implementable control design framework that will take vehicle performance and functional safety issues (e.g., collision avoidance and optimal lane keeping) into account, while also handling cyber threats separately. This research will advance base control architectures that were initially developed without cybersecurity considerations to the next level by adding attack detection and attack mitigation modules with minimal complexity and lowest modifications.
