EXT-TAURUM P2T: an Extended Secure CAN-FD Architecture for Road Vehicles

TL;DR

This paper introduces EXT-TAURUM P2T, a low-cost secure CAN-FD architecture for vehicles that enhances communication security among ECUs through novel key management, throughput control, and hardware signatures, addressing automotive cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Contribution

It presents a novel, practical secure CAN-FD architecture with a key provisioning strategy and hardware signature mechanisms, demonstrated through experimental implementation.

Findings

Feasibility confirmed via experimental implementation

Enhanced security for automotive ECUs

Low-cost architecture suitable for real-world deployment

Abstract

The automobile industry is no longer relying on pure mechanical systems; instead, it benefits from advanced Electronic Control Units (ECUs) in order to provide new and complex functionalities in the effort to move toward fully connected cars. However, connected cars provide a dangerous playground for hackers. Vehicles are becoming increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks as they come equipped with more connected features and control systems. This situation may expose strategic assets in the automotive value chain. In this scenario, the Controller Area Network (CAN) is the most widely used communication protocol in the automotive domain. However, this protocol lacks encryption and authentication. Consequently, any malicious/hijacked node can cause catastrophic accidents and financial loss. Starting from the analysis of the vulnerability connected to the CAN communication protocol in the automotive domain, this paper proposes EXT-TAURUM P2T a new low-cost secure CAN-FD architecture for the automotive domain implementing secure communication among ECUs, a novel key provisioning strategy, intelligent throughput management, and hardware signature mechanisms. The proposed architecture has been implemented, resorting to a commercial Multi-Protocol Vehicle Interface module, and the obtained results experimentally demonstrate the approach's feasibility.