Threat Modelling and Risk Assessment Within Vehicular Systems

Abstract

Safety has always been one of the most paramount aspects within a vehicle whether it is a passenger car or a commercial vehicle. All companies within the automotive industry have strived to achieve this aspect to ensure a good reputation with its consumers. Security, however, isn’t as imperative and has led to a new field of study. For a while, safety and security were further away from each other than most would think. But now they are more intertwined than ever before. As new functionalities and technologies are introduced to the standard vehicle, security has now become one aspect that cannot be ignored. Safety of the vehicle and the passenger is dramatically increased with the right security measures put in place. With that said, new processes, standards, methods and tools must be devised in order to evaluate the security and safety of these software-intensive automotive electrical and/or electronic (E/E) systems. The following report gives an in-depth analysis of various facets of a vehicular system from use cases to assets, an analysis of current threat modeling and risk assessment methodologies, the adaptations created to make these methodologies applicable to vehicular systems and a comparison of each. From these described activities we have created a full intuitive process for threat modeling and risk assessment to help with the security requirements needed within a vehicular system.