A study on cyber-security of autonomous and unmanned vehicles

Technological developments towards vehicle automation have been taking place for years. Satellite navigation, cruise control and anti-lock braking systems (ABS) are well-known examples of automation technology used in everyday cars. The trend of automation technology being used in vehicles is expected to move closer to full autonomy through technological advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence. As a result, our daily lives will become more and more dependent on digitally-controlled devices and vehicle systems (partially or highly automated). On the other hand, computing and digital systems also have a tendency to become more fragile and susceptible to faults and failures because of cyber-attacks and software and hardware defects, as well as accidental defects introduced by developers. Therefore, autonomous vehicle systems must be developed to bear such dangers in mind and must be equipped with defensive capabilities and measures such that they can be able to respond automatically and dynamically to both accidental and deliberate defects and attacks. In this study, autonomous and unmanned vehicle systems are examined for their cyber-security vulnerabilities. Threats and attacks exploiting these vulnerabilities are identified and classified. Development guidelines and a mitigation strategy to be used in the development of autonomous and unmanned vehicle systems are proposed and discussed in the final section.