Defense against attacks against unmanned ground and air vehicles

University of Texas at Arlington engineering researchers are working on defenses that can thwart cyber attacks against networks of unmanned cars and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Animesh Chakravarthy, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), is the principal investigator on an approximately $800,000 grant from the US Department of Defense entitled “Resilient Multi-Vehicle Networks.” MAE Professor Kamesh Subbarao, and Bill Beksi, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, are the co-principal investigators.

“If hackers find a way to affect 10 out of 100 driverless cars in a given area, they might impact 100 cars because the 10 cars hacked will have a ripple effect on other vehicles,” said Chakravarthy. “We have to make this network of vehicles resistant to such attacks. This project is intended to detect events as they occur, then provide countermeasures.

Chakravarthy and his colleagues will also try to determine the costs associated with cyberattacks on automated vehicles, including how much time and money is wasted in traffic or waiting for accidents to pass.

MAE chairman Erian Armanios said Chakravarthy’s research would be crucial for the growth of the unmanned vehicle network.

“You need to ensure the smooth and safe operation of that network of vehicles,” said Armanios. “Chakravarthy, Subbarao and Beksi’s work on this grant will achieve that.”