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Cybersecurity – Guarding autonomous vehicles

ORNL’s Frank Combs and Michael Starr of the U.S. Armed Forces (driver) work in ORNL’s Vehicle Security Laboratory to evaluate a prototype device that can detect network intrusions in all modern vehicles. Credit: Carlos Jones/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

October 5, 2017 – A new Oak Ridge National Laboratory-developed method promises to protect connected and autonomous vehicles from possible network intrusion. Researchers built a prototype plug-in device designed to alert drivers of vehicle cyberattacks. The prototype is coded to learn regular timing of signals in the communications network of an individual vehicle and detect abnormalities in timing frequency that could indicate a network intrusion or malicious software. Initial prototype testing in ORNL’s Vehicle Security Laboratory demonstrated near-perfect intrusion detection rates. “This is a first step toward developing solutions to protect vehicles,” says ORNL’s Bobby Bridges. “Ideally, accurate detection capabilities will facilitate ways to contain or block network intrusions in real-time on the road.”