VehChain: Blockchain Cryptography Decentralized Distributed Validating and Resiliency of Vehicle Control Systems

The U.S. Army GVSC continues utilizing Controller Area Network (CAN Bus) communication standards for embedded systems in the Army's manned, unmanned, electric, and autonomous vehicles (EVs, UGVs, UAVs). The existing CAN Bus security solutions require the hardware add-on and a centralized security measure, creating a single point of failure. InfoBeyond advocates VehChain: Blockchain Cryptography Decentralized Distributed Validating and Resiliency of Vehicle Control Systems. VehChain can be easily integrated into the CAN Bus through firmware revisions. No additional CAN hardware or data frame alternation is needed. To reduce communication overhead and latency, VehChain is designed based on the nature of CAN Bus, i.e., messages are broadcasted, nodes have no identifiers, and the frame identifier determines the specified node. Our VehChain provides a distributed and decentralized message validation scheme for intra-vehicle communication networks. Distributed message validation at each node secures the CAN bus through MAC, encryption, and key generation reminiscent of Blockchain technology. Each cryptographic key is tied to the CAN frame's identifier, hash (plain-text payload), and hash (previous key). To provide resiliency from corrupting messages, a reboot-based recovery approach utilizes CAN's built-in error handling mechanism. Hence, it mitigates the effect of attack propagation bus for ensuring operational safety, security, and continuity.