Glossary

Introduction

Welcome to the Glossary, here you will find definitions and details of common automotive security words and acronyms.

General Terms

Architectural Design

Representation that allows for identification of components, their boundaries, interfaces, and interactions

Asset

Object that has value, or contributes to value

Attack feasibility

Attribute of an attack path describing the ease of successfully carrying out the corresponding set of actions

Attack path

Set of deliberate actions to realize a threat scenario

Attacker

Person, group, or organization that carries out an attack path.

Audit

Examination of a process to determine the extent to which the process objectives are achieved.

Component

Part that is logically and technically separable.

Customer

Person or organization that receives a service or product.

Cybersecurity

Condition in which assets are sufficiently protected against threat scenarios to items of road vehicles, their functions and their electrical or electronic components.

Cybersecurity assessment

Judgement of cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity case

Structured argument supported by evidence to state that risks are not unreasonable.

Cybersecurity claim

Statement about a risk that can include a justification for retaining or sharing the risk.

Cybersecurity concept

Cybersecurity requirements of the item and requirements on the operational environment, with associated information on cybersecurity controls.

Cybersecurity control

Measure that is modifying risk.

Cybersecurity event

Cybersecurity information that is relevant for an item or component.

Cybersecurity goal

Concept-level cybersecurity requirement associated with one or more threat scenarios.

Cybersecurity incident

Situation in the field that can involve vulnerability exploitation.

Cybersecurity information

Information with regard to cybersecurity for which relevance is not yet determined.

Cybersecurity interface agreement

Agreement between customer and supplier concerning distributed cybersecurity activities.

Cybersecurity property

Attribute that can be worth protecting.

Cybersecurity specification

Cybersecurity requirements and corresponding architectural design.

Damage scenario

Adverse consequence involving a vehicle or vehicle function and affecting a road user.

Distributed cybersecurity activities

Cybersecurity activities for the item or component whose responsibilities are distributed between customer and supplier.

Impact

Estimate of magnitude of damage or physical harm from a damage scenario.

Item

Component or set of components that implements a function at the vehicle level.

Operational environment

Context considering interactions in operational use.

Out-of-context

Not developed in the context of a specific item.

Penetration testing

Cybersecurity testing in which real-world attacks are mimicked to identify ways to compromise cybersecurity goals. Also called penetration test or pentest.

Risk

Effect of uncertainty on road vehicle cybersecurity expressed in terms of attack feasibility and impact.

Risk management

Coordinated activities to direct and control and organization with regard to risk.

Road user

Person who uses a road.

Tailor

To omit or perform an activity in a different manner compared to its description in this document.

Threat scenario

Potential cause of compromise of cybersecurity properties of one or more assets in order to realize a damage scenario.

Triage

Analysis to determine the relevance of a cybersecurity information to an item or component.

Trigger

Criterion for triage.

Validation

Confirmation, through the provision of objective evidence, that the cybersecurity goals of the item are adequate and are achieved.

Vehicle Type

Vehicles which do not differ in at least the following essential respects: (a) The manufacturer’s designation of the vehicle type; (b) Essential aspects of the electric/electronic architecture and external interfaces with respect to cyber security.

Verification

Confirmation, through the provision of objective evidence, that specified requirements have been fulfilled.

Vulnerability

Weakness that can be exploited as part of an attack path.

Vulnerability analysis

Systematic identification and evaluation of vulnerabilities.

Weakness

Defect or characteristic that can lead to undesirable behaviour.

Basic Protocols

There is usually an initial exchange when two people strike up a conversation. Perhaps the interaction starts with a greeting, and if the two parties don’t know each other, they exchange names and begin talking about a common interest to get to know each other. It would be unusual to walk up to a stranger and ask, “Where is your house” or “Let me look into your eyes.” One might expect these questions if the proper sequence of events had happened beforehand, like after inviting someone to a barbeque or walking into an optometrist’s office. Information can easily be misinterpreted without a formal structure or sequence, and conforming to the rules helps people communicate clearly and effectively.

Similarly, computers communicate using a set of rules known as protocols. The protocol is a ruleset that contains information about the data format, what types of information will be shared, and when each device is allowed to speak. Some protocols must communicate wirelessly, handling noise from devices that aren’t involved. Other times, the devices are plugged directly into each other, and the communication rules they follow need to prioritize data transmission speed and reliability.

Here are a few protocols implemented in cars and how they might be used.

Automotive Ethernet

Automotive Ethernet is a communication protocol used in vehicles for high-speed networking between ECUs and other devices. It is based on the standard Ethernet protocol and is designed for use in harsh automotive environments. Automotive Ethernet can support data rates well over 1000 Mbit/s and uses a twisted pair of wires for communication. It is commonly used in the automotive industry for in-vehicle networking, particularly for applications requiring high data rates or transmitting large amounts of data.

CAN

CAN (Controller Area Network) is a communication protocol used in vehicles to allow microcontrollers and devices to communicate with each other in applications without a host computer. It is a message-based protocol designed specifically for automotive networking. CAN uses a two-wire bus to transmit data between devices, and each message on the bus has a unique identifier (ID) used to identify the message. ECUs will listen for specific defined CAN IDs to process. CAN is widely used in the automotive industry for in-vehicle communication due to its high reliability, low cost, and ease of implementation. There are multiple implementations and versions of CAN, such as CAN-FD and CAN-XL.

CAN-FD

CAN-FD stands for Controller Area Network Flexible Data-Rate and is a communication protocol for vehicle networking. It is a successor to the original Controller Area Network (CAN) and offers faster data transmission rates and larger data payloads. CAN-FD uses a bit-stuffing method and a different message format, enabling it to transmit data at much higher speeds while maintaining backward compatibility with the original CAN.

FlexRay

FlexRay is a communication protocol used in vehicles for high-speed, high-reliability communication between electronic control units (ECUs). It is a deterministic protocol, meaning that it guarantees the delivery of messages within a specified time frame. FlexRay uses a two-wire bus for communication and supports data rates up to 10 Mbit/s. It is designed for safety-critical applications and is commonly used in the automotive industry for communication between ECUs in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and other high-reliability applications.

GMLAN

GMLAN (General Motor Local Area Network) is a communication protocol used in vehicles to allow microcontrollers and devices to communicate in applications without a host computer. It is a message-based protocol similar to CAN but specifically designed for General Motors vehicles. GMLAN uses a single wire for communication and supports data rates up to 33.3 kbit/s. It is used in General Motors vehicles for in-vehicle communication between microcontrollers and devices.

KWP2000

KWP2000 (Keyword Protocol 2000) is a communication protocol used in vehicles for diagnostic communication between a vehicle and a diagnostic tool. It is a standard protocol used in the automotive industry for diagnostic communication. KWP2000 is a message-based protocol that uses a single wire for transmission and supports data rates up to 10.4 kbit/s. It is commonly used in the automotive industry for diagnostic communication between a vehicle and a diagnostic tool, such as when reading and clearing diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs).

LIN

LIN (Local Interconnect Network) is a serial communication protocol used in vehicles to allow devices on a single wiring network to communicate. It is a low-cost, simple protocol used for communication up to 19.2 Kbit/s between sensors and actuators in a vehicle. LIN uses a single wire for communication, and each device on the network is assigned a unique identifier (ID) used to identify the source and destination of each message. LIN is commonly used for communication between low-cost devices that do not require the bandwidth or reliability of higher-level protocols such as CAN.

MOST

MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport) is a communication protocol used in vehicles to transfer audio, video, and other multimedia content. It is a multimedia networking technology specifically designed for use in cars. MOST can use a fiber optic, unshielded twisted pair, or coax cable network for communication and supports data rates up to 150 Mbit/s. It is commonly used in the automotive industry to transmit multimedia content such as audio and video in infotainment systems.

Abbreviations

CAL

Cybersecurity Assurance Level

CSMS

Cyber Security Management System: A systematic risk-based approach defining organizational processes, responsibilities and governance to treat risk associated with cyber threats to vehicles and protect them from cyber-attacks.

CVE

Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: A catalog of publicly disclosed cybersecurity vulnerabilities. See https://www.cve.org/

CVSS

Common vulnerability scoring system

E/E

Electrical and electronic

ECU

Electronic control unit

EV

Electric Vehicle - Describes vehicles that operate with electric motors and batteries.

ICE

Internal Combustion Engine - Used to describe vehicles that run with a traditional motor and fuel tank.

ISO

International Organization for Standardization - iso.org

NIST

National Institute of Standards and Technology - www.nist.gov

OBD

On-board diagnostic

OEM

Original equipment manufacturer

OTA

Over-The-Air: Short for Over-The-Air Software Updates, which is the feature to push software updates to the vehicle over a wireless internet connection, removing the need to go to the dealership. Also called FOTA (Firmware Over-The-Air) or SOTA (Software Over-The-Air).

PM

Permission

RASIC

Responsible, accountable, supporting, informed, consulted

RC

Recommendation

RQ

Requirement

SAE

Society of Automotive Engineers - sae.org

SOTA

SOTA, or Software Over The Air refers to the ability to update software components in production vehicles remotely. This is useful for adding new features to vehicles, and patching vulnerabilities found post-production.

TARA

Threat analysis and risk assessment

UNECE

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

WP

Work Product

WP.29

World Forum for the harmonization of vehicle regulations