Dynamic Watermarking for Cybersecurity of Autonomous Vehicles

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are rapidly proliferating. However, their future adoption is dependent on guarantees of their safety and security. Studies have shown that AVs are vulnerable to malicious cyberattacks with potentially lethal consequences. It is, therefore, imperative to deploy defensive techniques to enhance their cybersecurity. The method of dynamic watermarking (DW) has been proposed as an active technique for cyber-physical systems to detect cyberattacks. In this study, DW is implemented on an actual AV. It is shown that the DW technique is effective for timely detection of different types of attacks on the yaw rate measurement under autonomous operation, and thereby, allows recourse to measures such as stopping or pulling off to the side to prevent collisions.