Vulnerabilities may occur during booting or firmware updates
Firmware integrity verification through digital signatures is required

With fully autonomous vehicles equipped with advanced sensors and computers expected to generate up to 20TB of data per day, a session was held to share ways to protect against hacking threats that may occur during the booting process and firmware updates.

On the 25th, E4ds Webinar hosted a webinar by Microchip Senior Engineer Sangshin Kwak titled 'Platform Firmware Resilience for Automotive Applications'.

In this webinar, Senior Engineer Kwak Sang-shin presented on vulnerabilities and protection methods that occur during the booting process and firmware updates in rapidly evolving automotive systems.

He then proposed verifying the integrity of the firmware through an unmanipulable ROM area and a digital signature using asymmetric encryption, stating that Microchip's CEC1702 could be a method.

Currently, the automotive market is rapidly developing not only infotainment but also driver assistance systems and autonomous driving capabilities.

Lane keeping assist, front and rear collision avoidance and warning systems, etc., help drivers drive safely and easily and also help prevent accidents.

The widespread adoption of electric vehicles cannot be overlooked either.

Hybrid and electric vehicles recommended for environmental protectionThis is a growing trend, and many companies are signaling a shift from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles.

Companies are preparing various wired and wireless interfaces to connect automobiles and smart devices.

It has been raised that the rapid development of the infotainment market could lead to cybersecurity issues.

As user interfaces increase, security vulnerabilities arise, leading to various hacking attempts, and consequently, various cases of damage and research are being reported.

Automotive systems generate such a massive amount of data that they are called 'data centers on wheels'.

The amount of data produced by the final autonomous vehicle per day is expected to be 5TB to 20TB.

Since this information may contain personal information, care must be taken in its handling and processing.

Chief Kwak stated, “There may be vulnerabilities in firmware when processing vast amounts of information,” adding, “We are already being attacked by hackers for various reasons.”

Automotive systems do not have good countermeasures for hacking defense compared to other applications.

Unlike other IT applications, CPUs, MCUs, and SoCs used in automobiles do not restrict access to internal or external memory for automotive-type processes, nor do they perform secure boot for authentication or load mutual authentication across networks.

As the latest automotive electronic systems evolve in functionality and complexity, security vulnerabilities within vehicles are increasing significantly and can have a serious impact.

Interfaces such as USB, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi provide convenience to users, but from the system's perspective, they increase the vulnerable areas susceptible to attack.

OEMIt requires system program update functions for various reasons, and this can also be a vulnerability.

Failure to prepare for this poses a significant threat to end users, can damage the company's image, and carries the risk of intellectual property exposure.

Chief Kwak proposed using a method to verify the integrity of the firmware through an unmanipulable ROM area implemented in internal hardware and a digital signature using asymmetric encryption.

Microchip's CEC1702 product boots from an immutable area, and after power is turned on, the processor maintains a reset state until firmware verification is complete. Once verification is complete, the reset state is released to allow the processor to operate from an external flash, which can serve as a measure to protect the firmware.

The 'CEC1 Family' product line is AEC-Q100 certified, making it suitable for automotive applications, and is evaluated as suitable for automotive use because it supports various symmetric and asymmetric algorithms.

When updating the firmware, you must also go through the same process as Secure Boot.

In addition, you must update to the new firmware after undergoing verification processes such as digital signatures.

In response to a question during the Q&A about what needs to be reviewed to ensure smooth protection from risks during the automotive firmware update process, Senior Manager Kwak stated that in order to update firmware for various products, including not only automobiles but also IoT, it is necessary to verify who sent the update and whether the source is safe.

They added that this verification process is a basic requirement and that additional verification may be necessary depending on the application.