Security for network-connected vehicles and other network-connected processing environments

• US 7,797,737 B2
• Filed: 12/05/2007
• Issued: 09/14/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Gruetzner, Matthias, Eibach, Wolfgang G., Nuttall, Mark P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Barron, Jr., Gilberto
• Assistant Examiner(s): POLTORAK, PIOTR
• Application Number:
  US11/950,812
• Publication Number:
  US 20080092227A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,014 Days
• Field of Search: 726/2, 726/11
• US Class Current: 726/11
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/00 Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles locks for vehicles E05B77/00-E05B85/00
• CPC Class Codes: F04C 2270/90 Remote control, e.g. wireless, via LAN, by radio, or by a wired connection from a central computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/00 Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/02 for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32

Abstract

A method and apparatus provide security for a network-connected vehicle (or other networked environment) in which a predefined set of permitted operations relating to protected resources can be initiated remotely from elsewhere in the network, while security is maintained for the protected resources (for example, an engine performance optimization control unit or air conditioning control unit within a vehicle) by preventing remote initiation of any other operations on a data processing unit which is connected to the protected resources. One of a pair of gateway components runs on each of two data processing units within the vehicle (or other environment), the first processing unit being connected to the vehicle'"'"'s device control units and the second processing unit being connected to the external network. The gateway components control the types of communications which can be passed from the network-connected side to the first processing unit such that only permitted operations can be requested and no unauthorized operations can be initiated remotely.

Claims

1. A secure gateway computer program product for a network-connected vehicle embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer program product comprising the programming instructions for:

a first gateway component for running on a first data processing unit connected to one or more device control units of the vehicle; and

a second gateway component for running on a second data processing unit connected to communications apparatus for providing a wireless connection to an external network;

wherein the first and second components of the secure gateway computer program are adapted to jointly control communications across a link between the first and second data processing units so as to limit the operations which can be performed at the first data processing unit in response to requests from the second processing unit to only a predefined set of permitted operations.

2. A method for controlling the initiation of operations relating to secure resources on a first data processing unit such that only a limited predefined set of operations can be initiated by requests from a second data processing unit connected to the first data processing unit by a communications link, the method comprising:

storing a list of permitted operations which can be requested from the second data processing unit;

comparing, by a secure gateway component which controls communications across the communications link, requests to perform operations relating to secure resources on the first data processing unit with the list of permitted operations;

only executing the permitted operations; and

implemented within a vehicle which includes the first and second data processing units, wherein the secure resources include the vehicle'"'"'s internal device control units.