The Security of Smart Cars: Toward Fingerprinting Vehicles

Smart cars are defined by the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) as systems providing connected, added-value features in order to enhance car users' experience or improve car safety. Because of their extra features, smart cars utilize sophisticated computer systems. These systems, particularly the Controller Area Network (CAN) bus and protocol, have been shown to provide information that can be used to accurately identify individual Electronic Control Units (ECUs) within a car and the driver that is operating a car. I expand upon this work to consider how information from in-vehicle computer systems can be used to identify individual vehicles. I consider fingerprinting vehicles as a means of aiding in stolen car recovery, thwarting VIN forgery, and supporting an intrusion detection system for networks of smart and autonomous vehicles in the near future. I provide an overview of in-vehicle computer systems and detail my work toward building an ECU testbed and fingerprinting vehicles.