Detection of Cyber Attacks Targeting Autonomous Vehicles Using Machine Learning

The advent of Industry 4.0, characterized by the integration of digital technology into mechanical and electronic sectors, has led to the development of autonomous vehicles as a notable innovation. Despite their advanced driver assistance systems, these vehicles present potential security vulnerabilities, rendering them susceptible to cyberattacks. To address this, the study emphasized investigating these attack methodologies, underlining the need for robust safeguarding strategies for autonomous vehicles. Existing preventive or detection mechanisms encompass intrusion detection systems for Controller Area Networks and Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication, coupled with AI-driven attack identification. The critical role of artificial intelligence, specifically machine learning and deep learning subdomains, was emphasized, given their ability to dissect vehicular communications for attack detection. In this study, a mini autonomous vehicle served as the test environment, where the network was initially scanned, followed by the execution of Man-in-the-Middle, Deauthentication, DDoS, and Replay attacks. Network traffic was logged across all stages, enabling a comprehensive analysis of the attack impacts. Utilizing these recorded network packets, an AI system was trained to develop an attack detection mechanism. The resultant AI model was tested by transmitting new network packets, and its detection efficiency was subsequently evaluated. The study confirmed successful identification of the attacks, signifying the effectiveness of the AI-based model. Though the focus remained on autonomous vehicles, the study proposes that the derived methodology can be extended to other IoT systems, adhering to the steps delineated herein.