2015 Symposium Posters

Project Members
David Hersh

In recent years, cars have gone through a technological renaissance, with each generation containing more features than the previous one. One of the features becoming increasingly common is built-in wireless connectivity, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 3G. While this added functionality is beneficial to the consumer, this opens up a new avenue of attack for hackers and criminals. But unlike a personal computer, if a car is hacked, the potential negative consequences are much higher. If an adversary can wirelessly exploit a car, they may be able to eavesdrop on conversations, turn off warning lights, and even control brakes and steering. Although multiple groups of researchers have shown that there are major security problems in common consumer vehicles, there is little experimental research on vehicle security. To encourage further research in this area, this work introduces a methodology for assessing the relative risk level of a vehicle (i.e., the risk associated with adding specific features to a vehicle and how they're implemented).