Advanced Cybersecurity Technologies to Improve Fleet Maintenance and Vehicle Safety
NCMS Project #: 142086
Problem: If a vehicle’s computer systems are not properly protected, hackers can unleash malware that could infect individual vehicles or even entire fleets. They could falsify performance and maintenance data to cause undetectable wear and tear on the vehicle components. This would lead to expensive repairs and irreversible damage to expensive and critical vehicle components. These part failures could cause accidents, damage property, and injure or kill vehicle occupants. If this was extended to an entire vehicle fleet, its effects could be devastating.
Benefit: Protecting this important maintenance data, will be critical to preventing disruptions in the supply chain and transportation systems which could put forward deployed weapons systems and the industrial base at risk of attack and exploitation. Besides prevention and detection, autonomous vehicles will require the ability to have security packages and patches sent over-the-air in a wide array of operation environments that have very little bandwidth. Discovering potential secure over the air solutions, will be critical to maintaining the integrity of weapon and information systems as the threats evolve and need to be countered faster to prevent vulnerabilities and attack surfaces that could put operational missions and personnel at risk.
Solution/Approach: The intent of this initiative is to assess the operational, maintenance, and safety benefits associated with an advanced vehicle cybersecurity technology using advanced modeling and simulation and analytical tools and techniques. This initiative is using the U.S. Army’s next generation combat vehicle as a surrogate to industry. The effort will determine if this technology can provide a comprehensive and layered approach to vehicle cybersecurity, reduce the possibility of a successful vehicle cyber-attack, and mitigate the potential consequences of a successful intrusion into a Modular Open System Architecture for an Army next generation combat vehicle.
Impact on Warfighter:
- Protect against and mitigate cyber-attacks seeking critical strategic and operational information
- Improve the safety between any complex system of sensors and the operator such as manufacturing equipment, a Local Area Network of computers and other interconnected machinery dependent on software
- Prevent disruptions in the supply chain and transportation systems
- Reduce maintenance and sustainment costs
- Increase warfighter readiness
DOD Participation:
- U.S. Army Program Manager – Maneuver Combat Systems (PM-MCS)
- U.S. Army Next Generation Combat Vehicle (NGCV) Cross Functional Team (CFT) stakeholders
- U.S. Army Program Executive Office (PEO)-Ground Combat Systems (GCS) and sub commands (observer)
- U.S. Army Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM), Integrated Logistics Support Center (ILSC) (observer)
- U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command (MARCORSYSCOM), Program Manager Light Armored Vehicles (PM LAV) & PEO-Land Systems Advanced Reconnaissance Vehicle (ARV) (observer)
- U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Program Manager Family of Special Operations Vehicles (PM FOSOV) Advanced Ground Mobility System (observer)
Industry Participation:
- Synergistic
- NCMS
Benefit Area(s):
- Safety
- Improved readiness
Focus Area:
- Other