A vehicle-security research project at the University of Waterloo, involving Transport Canada, Challenger Motor Freight, and other companies is studying how cyberattacks could penetrate commercial vehicles — and how the industry might detect an intrusion before it compromises critical vehicle systems.
According to Today’s Trucking, Sebastian Fischmeister of University of Waterloo is studying vehicle cybersecurity from several angles, including potential entry points, intrusion detection, component authenticity and ways to identify whether electronic messages circulating through a truck are coming from the devices they claim to represent.
Using a truck rather than relying solely on a laboratory setup gives researchers access to something particularly useful: the SAE J1939 communications standard widely used in heavy vehicles, reports Today’s Trucking.
The research is looking not only at preventing unauthorized access but detecting when something unusual is already happening inside the network.
His research is also extending beyond the truck’s internal communications network to the electronic components installed in vehicles.
Fleets routinely purchase replacement components without knowing everything about where those parts were manufactured, what firmware they contain or whether something changed farther up the supply chain.
“You do not control where they were manufactured. You do not control when they change. You do not control what firmware is running on there at all,” Fischmeister said. “But what you do is you own all the risk that comes with it.”
AI means such testing no longer necessarily requires a cybersecurity specialist manually probing every device. And attackers can use similar technology.
For fleets, Fischmeister recommends beginning with relatively familiar practices. Keep firmware and software updated, maintain vehicles properly, follow developments in vehicle cybersecurity, and make sure the organization understands emerging threats.
Read the full article here.
