Responding to the security and “privacy” issues of the connected vehicle
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The safety of the connected vehicle is one of the major technological challenges of tomorrow’s mobility. With its partners, the institute has developed a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) adapted to the complexity of cooperative ITS (intelligent transport systems) to secure V2X communications, i.e. communications between vehicles and between vehicles and their environment, while guaranteeing user privacy.
This PKI is a trusted third party that issues digital certificates to the various entities in the road networks (vehicles, roadside infrastructures, etc.) to guarantee integrity and authenticity of the messages exchanged between them and thus protect the system from external attackers. The solution implemented handles the entire chain for ensuring V2X communications, from the management of pseudonymised certificates to their implementation in a software stack embedded in the vehicle or roadside infrastructure. The PKI developed has been further standardised by SystemX and its partners in Europe at ETSI. It has been deployed in the framework of two ambitious national projects:
The SCOOP project for the pilot deployment of cooperative intelligent transport systems, including a fleet of 3,000 vehicles in France integrating the PKI protocol. The Paris-Saclay Autonomous Lab experiment with several on-board equipment that integrates the PKI protocol.
The Paris-Saclay Autonomous Lab experiment with several on-board equipment that integrates the PKI protocol.
The PKI technology developed by Atos with the support of SystemX IRT is particularly mature. It secures V2X communications, to protect cooperative ITS against cyberattacks and at the same time meet the associated privacy and interoperability challenges. Our work will continue with the development of a technology to detect malicious behaviour among PKI-certified entities.
Arnaud Kaiser, Project Manager, IRT SystemX
Interview
Coralie HERITIER
Managing Director,
IDnomic (Atos Group)
Why work with SystemX to improve the security of connected vehicle communications?
Our cooperation with SystemX started in 2014 with the ISE (ITS Safety) project. We immediately perceived the adequacy of our technological expertise with the needs of the project, but also identified the technical obstacles that would enable us to enrich our expertise and, above all, to participate in the development of a platform with very concrete applications in a future field, prefiguring the work on the safety of future autonomous vehicles. Another major interest of the ISE project was the fact that it was part of the search for conformity with the European C-ITS standard.
What results has this collaboration brought you?
The first project resulted in a demonstrator which was then used in the framework of a major European project SCOOP, aimed at deploying real-time ITS safety on roads. It has spun off others, enabling further explorations and demonstrations in terms of scaling up, hybrid connectivity, continuity of service across geographies, and detection of malfunctions. Another major result for our company: great commercial achievements. In particular, the know-how we have acquired has enabled us to win the contract awarded by the JRC (the European Commission’s science and technology department) for its ITS security platform. Finally, this cooperation has been very rich on a human level. The emulation within SystemX has allowed our innovation teams to flourish by participating in inspiring and visible projects. More generally, this development has contributed to the company’s influence and the confidence of all our employees.
