A tour of secure software engineering solutions for connected vehicles

Abstract

The growing number of vehicles daily moving on roads increases the need of protecting the safety and security of passengers, pedestrians, and vehicles themselves. This need is intensified when considering the pervasive introduction of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) systems into modern vehicles, because this makes such vehicles potentially vulnerable from the point of view of security. The convergence of safety and security requirements is one of the main outstanding research challenges in software-intensive systems. This work reviews existing methodologies and solutions addressing security issues in the automotive domain with a focus on the integration between safety and security aspects. In particular, we identify the main security issues with vehicular communication technologies and existing gaps between state-of-the-art methodologies and their implementation in the real world. Starting from a literature survey and referring to widely accepted standards of the domain, such as AUTOSAR and ISO 26262, we discuss research challenges and set baselines for a holistic secure-by-design approach targeting safety and security aspects all along the different phases of the development process of automotive software.