New Cyber Feasibility Report

Cyber Resilience in Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) – Cyber Feasibility Report

We spoke with Mark Cracknell, Head of Technology at Zenzic, to discuss the newly released Cyber Resilience in Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) – Cyber Feasibility Report and the projects that have been involved in accelerating the development of CAM in the UK through cyber.

What was the purpose of the Cyber Feasibility studies?

The topic of cyber security and cyber resilience is vast and there are many challenges to be faced. However, in the UK we have a long heritage of capability in cyber. As a result, there was an opportunity to focus on understanding and recognising what is needed from government to tackle this issue. The Cyber Feasibility projects were intended to fundamentally answer three questions.

     1. What methodologies are needed to measure and monitor cyber security for connected and self-driving vehicle technologies?

     2. What would a set of requirements for a Cyber Centre of Excellence look like?

     3. What would a viable economic case look like to support further operation and R&D within the Cyber Centre of Excellence?

Each of the seven projects explored a specific focus area and proposed a wide range of methodologies and requirements for cyber resilience.

What were the key learnings?

There are five key learnings or recommendations from the seven projects. The following recommendations from these projects form the backbone of the requirements for a future Cyber Centre of Excellence to support the safe and secure deployment of connected and self-driving vehicles. 

     1. A Cyber Centre of Excellence, specifically focussed on CAM technologies, vehicles, networks and infrastructure, should be created to bring together experts and new capabilities in cyber security and resilience. This Cyber Centre of Excellence should bring together experts from across industry and academia, acting as the UK hub for sharing knowledge and enhancing skills.

     2. The Cyber Centre of Excellence should act as a cluster or hub to existing capabilities and bring them together under a single umbrella, combining capabilities and doubling down on areas of UK strength. This cluster should ensure that any existing gaps in capability are supported through funding.

     3. The Cyber Centre of Excellence should develop the capability to monitor the operational security of connected and self-driving vehicles as they are deployed, enabling the ongoing assessment and assurance of the cyber resilience of the CAM “system” at scale.

     4. Given the broad range of systems and sub-systems that are interconnected within CAM, The Cyber Centre of Excellence should be the base for an ongoing programme of CR&D. That entails researching new and emergent threats and developing best practice in the design, implementation, monitoring and recovery of cyber security.

     5. A package of work is identified, which can draw together all of these methodologies into a single comprehensive framework. The UK will approach cyber resilience for CAM and subsequently identify priority gaps for further research and investment. 

What’s the most important thing to come out of the projects?

There are two key items that were consistently demonstrated across the projects.

     1. Creating a central hub, The Cyber Centre of Excellence, is critical to ensuring that the UK has a “home” for continued research and operational monitoring of cyber resilience.

     2. A collaborative method to approaching solutions to cyber resilience through a single framework is needed. Additionally, combining the outputs of each project into a suite of methodologies brought together by a single framework is essential.

Why is cyber so key?

The UK Connected and Automated Mobility Roadmap to 2030 is a tool used by decision makers in government and across industry to understand important areas for delivering the safe and secure future of CAM. In the report released by Zenzic last year, one of the “golden threads” discussed was cyber security. Golden threads are ways of navigating specific topics within the roadmap.

This informs us that every aspect of CAM is dependent on a secure and resilient system. Without this reliability we cannot realise the potential benefits of CAM, which include safety and security, productivity, access to transport and environment.

What’s next for cyber and CAM?

It’s clear from the project findings that the successful deployment of connected and self-driving vehicles is hinged upon the prioritisation of investment in cyber security and digital resilience. The projects have made a strong start by addressing key areas of how we can examine, monitor and research emerging and live threats to connected and self-driving vehicles, but more work is required. Together with CCAV and Innovate UK, Zenzic will be looking at future programmes to continue to address these topics and position the UK in a strong place of leadership by establishing The Cyber Centre of Excellence in the UK. 

Download your copy of the Cyber Resilience in Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM)  – Cyber Feasibility Report here. This will include as part of the download you will receive a link to all individual project reports.

Get in touch and contact the Zenzic team with your questions, or to be introduced to a specific cyber project team via info@zenzic.io.