New cybersecurity toolbox designed to protect automated and connected mobility systems

The European SELFY project, in which the Ingolstadt University of Applied Sciences (THI) is also participating with a team led by Prof. Dr Hans-Joachim Hof, is to develop a self-assessment and self-protection toolbox to enhance the security and resilience of Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM) systems against potential cyber-attacks and malicious actions. This is at a time when around 50 million connected and automated cars are expected to be on the road in Europe by 2026.

The project seeks to be the main supplier of an agnostic to OEMs toolbox for trust data management, collaborative perception, security preservation, self-healing and resilience self-management in the industry “which can be easily rolled out to provide self-awareness, self-resilience and confidence to the end user,” says Juan Caubet, director of IT&OT Security at the Eurecat technology center. “It will also deliver compliance with European regulations that require cybersecurity certificates for this type of vehicle.”

The SELFY project “tackles emerging risks and threats which call for a global, decentralized and collaborative solution that works between static and mobile assets and CCAM ecosystem players,” adds Victor Jiménez, technical coordinator of the project and IT&OT Security researcher at Eurecat.

To take the solution forward, the SELFY project consortium is willing to address the kind of data to be generated, gathered, and monitored; advanced data processing to identify potential threats; developing new tools to add to the ability to adapt and cope with cyber threats by lessening their impact, and uptake and deployment of services and solutions in this field. SELFY tools are to ensure privacy, confidentiality, and integrity, as well as improve accessibility, in the collaborative CCAM environment.

The solutions developed by the project will first be validated with simulation and in a lab. Three scenarios will then be built in real and controlled environments to demonstrate the toolbox’s performance and usefulness in a collaborative and cooperative environment.

The SELFY project consortium is led by Eurecat and made up of partners from eight countries including Spain with Eurecat, Tecnalia, AEVAC, Ficosaand Applus Idiada; France with CEA, CANON and YoGOKO; Germany with Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt; Austria with  Virtual Vehicle and City of Viena; the Netherlands with Eindoven University of Technology; Japan with Okayama University; Australia with RMIT University, and Turkey with FEV.