SAE Update - November 2021 - 36

ENGINEERING
EVENTS
Defending the heavy-vehicle cyber domain
The COVID-19 pandemic has
served as a stark reminder of
trucking's essential role in
keeping the economy moving.
Hacking commercial vehicles
poses grave risks that should not
be ignored; therefore, adequate
cybersecurity measures should
be considered and implemented
upfront in vehicle and systemdevelopment
programs. That
was the consensus of industry
experts participating in a
Cybersecurity panel at the recent
SAE COMVEC 2021 conference in
Chicago.
" Transportation is critical
infrastructure. It's central to our
supply-chain philosophy of justin-time, "
stressed Karl Heimer,
senior technical advisor for
cybersecurity to the Michigan
Economic Development Corp.
(MEDC). To drive home the point,
Heimer referenced a study that
evaluated what would happen to
a locality - be it a city, region or
the country - if the trucking
distribution system was
interrupted or stopped for a
period of time. " At the end of a
month, literally we're
preindustrial, " he warned.
To help ensure the industry has
enough talent to combat
36 November 2021
A person gaining physical access to a single vehicle is bad, but nefarious
actors gaining wireless access to a fleet of vehicles is far more worrisome.
cybersecurity threats, the CyberTruck Challenge was
created in 2017 to give college students and
postgraduates a taste of the high-tech issues
confronting heavy-vehicle engineers and ultimately to
entice them to join the effort once they graduate.
Students are paired with industry and government
professionals, as well as actual hackers - or white hats
- to learn about these large " networks on wheels. "
This year's challenge saw participation from 18
universities (compared to six in its first year) and
featured seven trucks, three testbeds and one trailer
on which students could gain hands-on experience.
cyber is a 'contact sport'
The training program emphasizes that a fusion of
skillsets is required to combat cyber incidents. " If you
could grab an electrical engineer who has lots of
patents and is extremely good and say, 'I want you to
go into this role as a cyber guy,' that's a great start,
UPDATE
CyberTruck Challenge
SAE Update - November 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SAE Update - November 2021
