The 9th edition of the International Cybersecurity Forum (FIC), the reference European event that brings together all the players in digital trust, was held from 24 to 25 January in Lille. SystemX participated in this event to present the CTI project, dedicated to Intelligent Transport Cybersecurity. Witold Klaudel, the CTI project manager, tells us about this forum.
Why did SystemX participate in the 2017 edition of the International Cybersecurity Forum?
The cybersecurity of cyber-physical objects is studied in several projects at IRT SystemX. Amongst these, the CTI (Intelligent Transport Cybersecurity) project, launched in June 2016 for a four-year period, helps players in the rail, aeronautical and automobile sectors to design reliable embedded electronic architectures.
We wished to present the initial work we have accomplished in this field at the ICF which is currently the reference event worldwide in cybersecurity. Moreover, our participation enabled us to exchange with many experts in this field.
Transportation is undergoing great change. What are the main challenges confronting the players in the coming years?
We are currently seeing increasing automation in transportation. This automation will enable capillary, on demand travel for varied short journeys. For example, a person can get a taxi cheaply or get goods delivered cheaply via a drone.
Automation will be accompanied by very open connectivity. The new paradigm offers many business opportunities for players in transportation but will also be a major challenge in terms of the cybersecurity of these transports, ever more exposed to risk.
Players need to adjust their design and operational management processes while, at the same time, making their customers and users aware of the problems of cybersecurity. Finally, although cybersecurity must first and foremost counter threats to safe operation, it must also take account of the new demands for protection of privacy, especially protection of personal data collected in transportation. A new regulation (General Data Protection Regulation) is to enter into force in the EU as of May 25 2018.
How does the CTI project contribute to cybersecurity in intelligent transportation?
The CTI project addresses cybersecurity in intelligent transportation in three fields: automobile, rail and aeronautics. Each has mobile objects (cars, trains or planes), local infrastructures (roads, railway tracks, beacons and airfields) and centralized supervisory systems. The mobile objects communicate with each other and the local infrastructure, and are supervised by centralized infrastructures. We need to look into the electronics and software of all these objects so as to distribute cybersecurity functions among all the components in a system.
The CTI project contributes to the cybersecurity of these intelligent means of transportation via its technological work and its assistance to its partners in bringing their design and management processes into conformity in a world of constant change of the requirements in standards and regulations.
What is your vision of cybersecurity in transportation from now to 2020?
Players in transportation are increasingly concerned with cybersecurity. In the railways sector, for instance, manufacturing calls for tender are now demanding cybersecurity from bidders. The same applies to road transportation: customers are beginning to question its cybersecurity. Attacks on connected vehicles have generated a great deal of buzz recently and society is beginning to become very aware. By 2020, manufacturers will have to produce documentation and communication aimed at customers.
I also think that the regulations governing cybersecurity will change considerably in the coming years.
What innovation struck you most at the FIC ?
No one innovation struck me particularly. My visit to the FIC mostly showed me that cybersecurity has reached a highly accomplished state of the art, especially in the IT field.
