Chapter 11 Security and Privacy

The rapid advancement of autonomous vehicle technology represents one of the most significant transformations in modern transportation. As we progress towards a future where self-driving vehicles become commonplace, the critical importance of security and privacy in these systems cannot be overstated. This chapter provides a comprehensive examination of the fundamental security and privacy challenges inherent in autonomous vehicle systems.

At their core, AVs represent complex cyber-physical systems, integrating sophisticated hardware components with advanced software algorithms. These vehicles rely on an intricate network of sensors, actuators, and computational units to perceive their environment, make decisions, and execute driving maneuvers. From a computer science perspective, this creates a multifaceted attack surface that demands rigorous security considerations across multiple layers of the system architecture. While conventional security focuses primarily on protecting data and systems from unauthorized access, autonomous vehicle security must simultaneously ensure the physical safety of passengers, pedestrians, and other road users.

The interconnected nature of modern autonomous vehicles further compounds these challenges. AVs operate within a broader ecosystem of intelligent transportation infrastructure, incorporating vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) protocols, and cloud-based services. Each of these communication channels introduces potential vulnerabilities that must be addressed.