Threats against the E/E topology

In Chapter 1, we explored the various E/E architecture types from the highly distributed, to the domain centralized, and finally, the zone architecture. In this section, we will highlight the threats against each type of architectural layout.

Highly distributed E/E architecture

A typical weakness of such architecture is that security-critical ECUs may be reached from multiple attack surfaces, without the possibility of cleanly separating the domains. One of our security principles in Chapter 2 was domain separation, which required the physical and logical separation of the domains of various levels of security needs.

An example of a weak architecture is that of the famous Jeep hack in which the infotainment ECU was on the same network segment as the brake ECU [28].

Figure 3.11 – 2014 Jeep Cherokee architecture (source is [28])

This enabled an attacker who managed to compromise the infotainment ECU to start...