This is Part 3 of a three-part series on embedded security for our BCU. Part 1 covers the threat model, the root of trust and the boot concept; Part 2 covers updates, the bus and diagnostics; this part covers the code, the debug port, the immobilizer, detection and privacy. The example is the BCU from the foundation series.

Part 1 built the base: TARA, HSM, keys and boot. Part 2 put locks on the three doors that are open by design: updates, the bus and diagnostics. This last part is about the doors that are easy to forget: the code behind all those locks, the debug port, the immobilizer (where security isn’t a protection, it’s the function), noticing an attack, and the data the BCU collects without anybody asking. At the end, everything comes together in one table: which security mechanism lives where in the BCU, and what it costs.

What’s inside

  • Door 6, the code itself: parsers, pointers and other gifts
  • Door 7, the debug port and the ECU lifecycle
  • Door 8, the immobilizer: security as the actual function
  • Door 9, detection and response, and Door 10, privacy
  • Where security lives in the BCU: one table for every mechanism, and the process around it

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