Hands-on Cybersecurity Studies: Learning about the Vehicular Controller Area Network (CAN) Bus

Author(s):

Jennifer Sims, Nicholas Sims, and Jaime C Acosta

Abstract:

Vehicular networks consist of several components that communicate across the controller area network (CAN) bus. Several open-source tools exist today to understand the functions of these components and how to better secure them. This report is a learning module or exercise that describes several of these tools to make participants more aware of security best practices and mitigations. The exercise begins with a short description of the can-utils tool, which is used to generate and set up a custom interface to speak to the CAN, as well as the Instrument Cluster Simulator tool, which aids with vehicular visualization and data generation. Afterward, these tools are used together to create a simulated environment for experimentation and testing that participants will use to complete a sequence of tasks related to CAN bus security.