A Novel Message-Preserving Scheme with Format-Preserving Encryption for Connected Cars in Multi-Access Edge Computing

Area of Science:

• Cybersecurity in automotive systems
• In-vehicle networking protocols
• Data encryption techniques

Background:

• Connected cars utilize Controller Area Network (CAN) and Ethernet for communication, but CAN faces security vulnerabilities like replay and denial-of-service attacks.
• Existing security protocols for CAN messages have limitations, including added complexity or message length modifications.
• Format-preserving encryption (FPE) offers a potential solution by maintaining data format and length during encryption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate a novel method for encrypting CAN data frames using format-preserving encryption (FPE).
• To enhance the security of connected car communication against cyber threats, particularly denial-of-service attacks.
• To analyze the performance and applicability of the FPE scheme in a multi-access edge computing (MEC) environment.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a format-preserving encryption (FPE) method to encrypt data frames within the CAN message structure.
• Comparative analysis of FPE against traditional block ciphers like AES-128 in terms of security against malicious message injection.
• Construction of a CAN transmission environment for analyzing encryption/decryption rates and message processing in a multi-access edge computing (MEC) context.

Main Results:

• The proposed FPE scheme demonstrated superior resilience against malicious message injection compared to AES-128, with a lower threshold for detection (100 ms for FPE vs. 180 ms for AES-128).
• FPE allows simultaneous encryption of CAN message blocks, improving efficiency and security against denial-of-service attacks.
• Performance analysis in a constructed CAN transmission environment confirmed the scheme's viability for connected cars in MEC.

Conclusions:

• The proposed FPE-based encryption method effectively secures CAN messages in connected cars, offering enhanced protection against cyberattacks.
• FPE provides a practical and efficient solution for automotive cybersecurity, overcoming limitations of existing protocols.
• The scheme is validated for real-world application in connected car environments, especially within multi-access edge computing frameworks.