Browsing by Author "Ayres, Nicholas"

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    Continuous Automotive Software Updates through Container Image Layers
    (MDPI, 2021-03-20) Ayres, Nicholas; Deka, Lipika; Paluszczyszyn, Daniel
    The vehicle-embedded system also known as the electronic control unit (ECU) has transformed the humble motorcar, making it more efficient, environmentally friendly, and safer, but has led to a system which is highly dependent on software. As new technologies and features are included with each new vehicle model, the increased reliance on software will no doubt continue. It is an undeniable fact that all software contains bugs, errors, and potential vulnerabilities, which when discovered must be addressed in a timely manner, primarily through patching and updates, to preserve vehicle and occupant safety and integrity. However, current automotive software updating practices are ad hoc at best and often follow the same inefficient fix mechanisms associated with a physical component failure of return or recall. Increasing vehicle connectivity heralds the potential for over the air (OtA) software updates, but rigid ECU hardware design does not often facilitate or enable OtA updating. To address the associated issues regarding automotive ECU-based software updates, a new approach in how automotive software is deployed to the ECU is required. This paper presents how lightweight virtualisation technologies known as containers can promote efficient automotive ECU software updates. ECU functional software can be deployed to a container built from an associated image. Container images promote efficiency in download size and times through layer sharing, similar to ECU difference or delta flashing. Through containers, connectivity and OtA future software updates can be completed without inconveniences to the consumer or incurring expense to the manufacturer.
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    Cyberterrorism targeting general public through social media
    (Wiley, 2016-03) Ayres, Nicholas; Maglaras, Leandros
    Current literature suggests that critical national infrastructure is the main focus of attack for cyberterrorism but this researchwill address the issue of whether a mimetic virus is a viable cyberterrorist attack against a target population.Statistical data was obtained from questionnaires with 100 random participants regarding their understanding and current levels of fear of a cyberterrorist attack against them; responses indicated that there was a good level of understanding as to what cyberterrorism was and that participants’ fear levels of an impending attack were low. The participants were then introduced using a fabricated video clip to what they were led to believe was a real weaponised computer virus which attacked laptop batteries causing them to explode. The data showed that not only had participants’ fear levels increased but they would also modify future habits and behaviour. This research highlighted that the general publiccould indeed be a target of cyberterrorism and a mimetic virus could be an effective method of attack.
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    Enhancing the Automotive E/E Architecture Utilising Container-Based Electronic Control Units
    (De Montfort University, 2021-01) Ayres, Nicholas
    Over the past 40 years, with the advent of computing technology and embedded systems, such as Electronic Control Units (ECUs), cars have moved from solely mechanical control to predominantly digital control. Whilst improvements have been realised in terms of passenger safety and vehicle efficiency, there are several issues currently facing the automotive industry as a result of the rising number of ECUs. These include greater demands placed on power, increased vehicle weight, complexities of hardware and software, dependency on software, software life expectancy, ad-hoc methods concerning automotive software updates, and rising costs for the vehicle manufacturer and consumer. As the modern-day motor car enters the autonomous age, these issues are predicted to increase because there will be an even greater reliance on computing hardware and software technology to support these new driving functions. To address the issues highlighted above, a number of solutions that aid hardware consolidation and promote software reusability have been proposed. However, these depend on bespoke embedded hardware and there remains a lack of clearly defined mechanisms through which to update ECU software. This research moves away from these current practices and identifies many similarities between the datacentre and the automotive Electronic and Electrical (E/E) architecture, demonstrating that virtualisation technologies, which have provided many benefits to the datacentre, can be replicated within an automotive context. Specifically, the research presents a comprehensive study of the Central Processor Unit (CPU) and memory resources required and consumed to support a container-based ECU automotive function. The research reveals that lightweight container virtualisation offers many advantages. A container-based ECU can promote consolidation and enhance the automotive E/E architecture through power, weight and cost savings, as well as enabling a robust mechanism to facilitate future software updates throughout the lifetime of a vehicle. Furthermore, this research demonstrates there are opportunities to adopt this new research methodology within both the automotive industry and industries that utilise embedded systems, more broadly.
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    The mimetic virus: A vector for cyber security
    (Inderscience, 2016) Ayres, Nicholas; Maglaras, Leandros; Janicke, Helge; Smith, Richard; He, Ying
    Like conventional terrorism, cyberterrorism has the same aims and goals but the act is done exclusively within cyberspace where the computer is both weapon and target. Unlike conventional terrorism, cyberterrorism is not analogue but digital and any potential attack could have global consequences. Current thinking is that Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) is the main target of focus for cyberterrorism but with so many people online on a national or even global scale, public could prove to be an easier, more tempting target. This article addresses how the cyberterrorist could use the public as target of a real or fake attack by using a mimetic virus as the weapon.