Risk Analysis Study of Fully Autonomous Vehicle

Abstract: Fully autonomous vehicles are emerging vehicular technologies that have gained significant attention in todays research endeavours. Even though it promises to optimize road safety, the proliferation of wireless and sensor technologies makes it susceptible to cyber threats thus dawdling its adoption. The identification of threats and design of apposite security solutions is therefore pertinent to expedite its adoption. In this paper, we analyse the security risks of the communication infrastructure for the fully autonomous vehicle using a subset of the TVRA methodology by ETSI. We described the model of communication infrastructure. This model clarifies the potential communication possibilities of the vehicle. Then we defined the security objectives and identified threats. Furthermore, we classified risks and propose countermeasures to facilitate the design of security solutions. We find that all identified high impact threats emanates from a particular source and required encryption mechanisms as countermeasures. Finally, we discovered that all threats due to an interaction with humans are of serious consequences.