Document ID: NHTSA-2020-0087-0002
Agency: nhtsa
Document Type: Notice
Title: Cybersecurity Best Practices for the Safety of Modern Vehicles
Posted Date: 2021-01-12T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 12, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2481-2486]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-00390]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

[Docket No. NHTSA-2020-0087]

Cybersecurity Best Practices for the Safety of Modern Vehicles

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 
Department of Transportation (DOT).

ACTION: Request for comments.

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SUMMARY: NHTSA invites public comment on the Agency's updated draft 
cybersecurity best practices document titled Cybersecurity Best 
Practices for the Safety of Modern Vehicles. In 2016, NHTSA issued its 
first edition, Cybersecurity Best Practices for Modern Vehicles, which 
described NHTSA's nonbinding guidance to the automotive industry for 
improving vehicle cybersecurity. With this document, NHTSA is docketing 
and soliciting public feedback on a draft update based on the knowledge 
gained through prior comments, continued research, motor vehicle 
cybersecurity issues discovered by researchers, and related industry 
activities over the past four years. To emphasize NHTSA's safety 
mission, recommendations in the document focus on cybersecurity best 
practices that have safety implications for motor vehicles and motor 
vehicle equipment.

DATES: Written comments are due no later than March 15, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Comments must refer to the docket number above and be 
submitted by one of the following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting 
comments.
     Mail: Docket Management Facility, M-30, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: U.S. Department of 
Transportation, West Building, Ground Floor, Room W12-140, 1200 New 
Jersey Avenue SE, Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern 
time, Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. To be sure 
someone is there to help you, please call (202) 366-9322 before coming.
     Fax: 202-493-2251.
    Regardless of how you submit your comments, you must include the 
docket number identified in the heading of this document.
    Note that all comments received, including any personal information 
provided, will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov. 
Please see the ``Privacy Act'' heading below.
    You may call the Docket Management Facility at 202-366-9322. For 
access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, 
go to http://www.regulations.gov or the street address listed above. To 
be sure someone is there to help you, please call (202) 366-9322 before 
coming. We will continue to file relevant information in the Docket as 
it becomes available.
    Privacy Act: In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 553(c), DOT solicits 
comments from the public to inform its decision-making process. DOT 
posts these comments, without edit, including any personal information 
the commenter provides, to http://www.regulations.gov, as described in 
the system of records notice (DOT/ALL-14 FDMS), which can be reviewed 
at https://www.transportation.gov/privacy. Anyone can search the 
electronic form of all comments received into any of our dockets by the 
name of the individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment, 
if submitted on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For technical issues, please contact 
Mr. Robert Kreeb of NHTSA's Office of Vehicle Safety Research at 202-
366-0587 or robert.kreeb@dot.gov. For legal issues, contact Ms. Sara R. 
Bennett of NHTSA's Office of Chief Counsel at 202-366-2992 or 
sara.bennett@dot.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  The evolution of automotive technology has 
included an increasingly expanded use of electronic systems, software, 
and wireless connectivity. While this development began in the late 
1970s, the pace of technological evolution has increased significantly 
over the past

[[Page 2482]]

decade. Automotive technology has developed to such an extent that 
today's vehicles are some of the most complex computerized products 
available to consumers. Enhanced wireless connectivity and continued 
innovations in electronic control systems introduce substantial 
benefits to highway transportation safety, mobility, and efficiency. 
However, with the proliferation of computer-based control systems, 
software, connectivity, and onboard digital data communication 
networks, modern vehicles need to consider additional failure modes, 
vulnerabilities, and threats that could jeopardize benefits if the new 
safety risks are not appropriately addressed.
    Connectivity and safety technologies that can intervene to assist 
drivers with control of their vehicles (e.g., automatic emergency 
braking) could also increase cybersecurity risks, and without proactive 
measures taken across the vehicle lifecycle, risks could result in 
negative safety outcomes. As such, motor vehicle cybersecurity remains 
a top priority for NHTSA. NHTSA is engaged in research and industry 
outreach efforts to support enhanced reliability and resiliency of 
vehicle electronics, software, and related vehicle control systems, not 
only to mitigate safety risks associated with failure or potential 
cyber compromise of such systems, but also to ensure that affected 
parties take appropriate actions and such concerns do not pose public 
acceptance barriers for proven safety technologies.
    NHTSA's work in this area seeks to support the automotive 
industry's continued improvements to motor vehicle cybersecurity 
reliability and resiliency. The Agency also expends resources in 
understanding and promoting contemporary methods in software 
development, testing practices, and requirements management as they 
pertain to robust management of underlying safety hazards and risks 
across the vehicle life-cycle. These activities include close 
collaboration with industry to promote a strong risk management culture 
and associated organizational and systems engineering processes.

Background

    In October 2016, NHTSA issued its first best practices document 
focusing on the cybersecurity of motor vehicles and motor vehicle 
equipment.\1\ Cybersecurity Best Practices for Modern Vehicles (``2016 
Best Practices'') was the culmination of years of extensive engagement 
with public and private stakeholders and NHTSA research on vehicle 
cybersecurity and methods of enhancing vehicle cybersecurity industry-
wide. As explained in the accompanying Federal Register document, 
NHTSA's 2016 Best Practices was released with the goal of supporting 
industry-led efforts to improve the industry's cybersecurity posture 
and provide the Agency's views on how the automotive industry could 
develop and apply sound risk-based cybersecurity management processes 
during the vehicle's entire lifecycle.
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    \1\ Cybersecurity Best Practices for Modern Vehicles, announced 
via the Federal Register, 81 FR 75190 (Oct. 28, 2016).
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    The 2016 Best Practices leveraged existing automotive domain 
research as well as non-automotive and IT-focused standards such as the 
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity 
Framework and the Center for internet Security's Critical Security 
Controls framework. NHTSA considered these sources to be reasonably 
applicable and appropriate to augment the limited industry-specific 
guidance that was available at the time. At publication, NHTSA noted 
that the 2016 Best Practices were intended to be updated with new 
information, research, and other cybersecurity best practices related 
to the automotive industry. NHTSA invited comments from stakeholders 
and interested parties in response to the document.
    Below is a high-level summary of comments received and how NHTSA 
integrated those comments into the 2020 draft Cybersecurity Best 
Practices for the Safety of Modern Vehicles.

Summary of Public Comments Received in Response to NHTSA's 2016 Best 
Practices

    NHTSA received comments from government agencies, regulated 
entities, trade associations, advocacy groups and organizations, and 
individuals.\2\ Key topic areas, and how such comments are reflected in 
NHTSA's revised 2020 Cybersecurity Best Practices for the Safety of 
Modern Vehicles are listed below.
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    \2\ Comments on the 2016 Cybersecurity Best Practices for Modern 
Vehicles can be found at https://beta.regulations.gov/document/NHTSA-2016-0104-0001/comment.
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     Guidance vs. Rules. Many commenters noted that 
cybersecurity is a constantly evolving discipline and that best 
practices may need frequent updating, and most commenters suggested 
that NHTSA's cyber best practices should remain non-binding and 
voluntary. NHTSA agrees with these commenters, and adoption of any of 
the provisions listed in the 2020 Cybersecurity Best Practices for the 
Safety of Modern Vehicles remains voluntary.
     NHTSA's cyber best practices should be aligned with 
industry initiatives. Commenters noted that industry initiatives were 
under development at the time of the 2016 Best Practices publication. 
NHTSA believes that the specific best practices outlined in today's 
2020 revision reflect a strong linkage to key industry cybersecurity-
related initiatives and efforts by organizations such as SAE 
International (SAE), the International Organization for Standardization 
(ISO), NIST, and the Automotive Information Sharing and Analysis Center 
(Auto-ISAC)--and are, in general, consistent with guidelines, 
standards, and best practices developed by these organizations.
     Focus on Safety. Several commenters noted that NHTSA's 
best practices should focus squarely on safety aspects of 
cybersecurity. NHTSA agrees. The best practices presented in this 
revision are tailored to focus on cybersecurity issues that impact the 
safety of motor vehicles throughout the lifecycle of design, operation, 
maintenance and disposal. This emphasis is reflected throughout the 
document, including with a title change: Cybersecurity Best Practices 
for the Safety of Modern Vehicles.
     Consideration of cybersecurity as part of software 
development process. Multiple commenters recommended greater and more 
formal consideration of cybersecurity as part of the software 
development lifecycle process. NHTSA's revised best practice outlined 
today reflects a need to include cybersecurity considerations along the 
entire software supply chain and throughout the lifecycle management 
processes of developing, implementing and updating software-enabled 
systems.
     Additional cybersecurity terminology, definitions. 
Commenters noted that the document would benefit from providing 
expanded definitions for certain terms to add precision and clarity to 
the recommended best practices. NHTSA has provided several additional 
definitions for key terms used throughout the document.
    The comments received, combined with continued research, outreach 
to stakeholders, learnings from motor vehicle cybersecurity issues 
discovered by researchers, and related industry activities over the 
past four years have served as the foundation for the 2020 update. A 
description of other important information that guided the changes 
included in the 2020 Cybersecurity Best Practices for the Safety of 
Modern

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Vehicles is included in the following section.

2020 Update of Cybersecurity Best Practices

    NHTSA is docketing a draft update to the agency's 2016 Best 
Practices,\3\ titled Cybersecurity Best Practices for the Safety of 
Modern Vehicles (2020 Best Practices) for public comments. This update 
builds upon agency research and industry progress since 2016, including 
emerging voluntary industry standards, such as the ISO/SAE Draft 
International Standard (DIS) 21434, ``Road Vehicles--Cybersecurity 
Engineering.'' \4\ In addition, the draft update references a series of 
industry best practice guides developed by the Auto-ISAC through its 
members.\5\
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    \3\ The 2016 guidance is titled Cybersecurity Best Practices for 
Modern Vehicles and is available at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/10/28/2016-26045/request-for-comment-on-cybersecurity-best-practices-for-modern-vehicles. The 
2020 update has a modified title that emphasizes the document's 
focus on, and NHTSA's commitment to, cybersecurity as an aspect of 
safety in motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment.
    \4\ ISO/SAE 21434:2020 Road Vehicles--Cybersecurity Engineering, 
available at: https://www.iso.org/standard/70918.html.
    \5\ See https://automotiveisac.com/best-practices/.
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    The 2020 Best Practices also reflect findings from NHTSA's 
continued research in motor vehicle cybersecurity, including over-the-
air updates, encryption methods, and building our capability in 
cybersecurity penetration testing and diagnostics, and the new 
learnings obtained through researcher and stakeholder engagement. 
Finally, the updates included in the 2020 Best Practices incorporate 
insights gained from public comments received in response to the 2016 
guidance and from information obtained during the annual SAE/NHTSA 
Vehicle Cybersecurity Workshops.
    As with the 2016 Best Practices, NHTSA's updated draft, 
Cybersecurity Best Practices for the Safety of Modern Vehicles, is 
intended to serve as a resource for the industry as a whole and covers 
safety-related cybersecurity issues for all motor vehicles and motor 
vehicle equipment. As such, it is applicable to all individuals and 
organizations involved in the design, manufacture, and assembly of a 
motor vehicle and its electronic systems and software. These entities 
include, but are not limited to, small and large volume motor vehicle 
and motor vehicle equipment designers, suppliers, manufacturers, and 
modifiers. What follows is a listing of each new best practice, and an 
explanation of why NHTSA believes the inclusion is necessary in this 
update.
     [G.6] Manufacturers should consider the risks associated 
with sensor vulnerabilities and potential sensor signal manipulation 
efforts such as GPS spoofing,6 road sign 
modification,7 Lidar/Radar jamming and spoofing,8 
camera blinding,9 or excitation of machine learning false 
positives.\10\
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    \6\ DefCon 23--Lin Huang and Qing Yang--Low cost GPS Simulator: 
GPS Spoofing by SDR (2015). Video of the talk available at: https://media.defcon.org/DEF%20CON%2023/DEF%20CON%2023%20video/.
    \7\ McAfee Labs, Model Hacking ADAS to Pave Safer Roads for 
Autonomous Vehicles (2020), available at: https://www.mcafee.com/blogs/other-blogs/mcafee-labs/model-hacking-adas-to-pave-safer-roads-for-autonomous-vehicles/.
    \8\ Mark Harris, IEEE Spectrum Sept 4, 2015, Researcher Hacks 
Self-driving Car Sensors.
    \9\ Petit, J. et al., ``Remote Attacks on Automated Vehicles 
Sensors: Experiments on Camera and LiDAR'' (2015), available at: 
https://www.blackhat.com/docs/eu-15/materials/eu-15-Petit-Self-Driving-And-Connected-Cars-Fooling-Sensors-And-Tracking-Drivers-wp1.pdf.
    \10\ Tencent Keen Security Lab, Experimental Security Research 
of Tesla Autopilot 2019, available at: https://keenlab.tencent.com/en/whitepapers/Experimental_Security_Research_of_Tesla_Autopilot.pdf.
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    This best practice recommends that industry consider ``sensor 
vulnerabilities'' as part of their risk assessment (examples: GPS 
spoofing, road sign modification, Lidar/Radar jamming and spoofing, 
camera blinding, or excitation of machine learning false positives). 
NHTSA added it to reflect the new research that shows that technology 
behavior could be influenced via sensor spoofing, which differs from 
traditional software manipulation-based cyber issues.
     [G.7] Any unreasonable risk to safety-critical systems 
should be removed or mitigated to acceptable levels through design, and 
any functionality that presents an unavoidable and unnecessary risk 
should be eliminated where possible.
    This best practice recommends ``removal of risk'' to be considered 
as part of the development process. NHTSA included this best practice 
to align with the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act's 
prohibition of manufacturers selling motor vehicles and motor vehicle 
equipment that may contain unreasonable risks to safety. This is a 
common practice element of sound risk-based approaches. The 2016 Best 
Practices recommended assessing and appropriately mitigating risks to 
acceptable levels. While the 2016 documents implicitly included G.7 in 
cases where risks could not be mitigated with known tools and for a 
given architecture appropriately, this document makes the best practice 
explicit.
     [G.9] Clear cybersecurity expectations should be specified 
and communicated to the suppliers that support the intended 
protections.
    Vehicles are produced in a complex supply chain, and cybersecurity 
roles and expectations need to be clarified and coordinated among 
involved parties to support the cybersecurity goals of the 
manufacturers. ISO/SAE 21434 Clause 15 discusses customer-supplier 
relationships and provides various recommendations for how to manage 
cybersecurity risks among these entities. Such recommendations extend, 
among other aspects, to the interactions, dependencies, and 
responsibilities between customers and suppliers for cybersecurity 
activities.
     [G.10] Manufacturers should maintain a database of 
operational software components 11 12 used in each 
automotive ECU, each assembled vehicle, and a history log of version 
updates applied over the vehicle's lifetime; and [G.11] Manufacturers 
should track sufficient details related to software 
components,13 such that when a newly identified 
vulnerability is identified related to an open source or off-the-shelf 
software,14 manufacturers can quickly identify what ECUs and 
specific vehicles would be affected by it.
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    \11\ This is also referred to as a software bill of materials 
(SBOM), which is a list of components in a piece of software, 
including assembled open source and commercial software components.
    \12\ Multistakeholder Process on Promoting Software Component 
Transparency, 83 FR 110 (June 4, 2018).
    \13\ These details could include: The licenses that govern those 
components, the versions of the components used in the codebase, and 
their patch status.
    \14\ A good example would be the vulnerability associated with 
the Transport Layer Security(TLS) implementations in OpenSSL 1.0.1 
before 1.0.1g in the Heartbleed vulnerability: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=cve-2014-0160.
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    Through engagement in organized exercises, such as CyberStorm,\15\ 
the Agency recognized that the ability to identify whether an issue 
with one component would affect a single or multiple makes and models 
is critically important to determine the potential scope of risk. 
Further, being able to recognize which software version is installed on 
individual vehicles or items of equipment and differentiate between 
versions is critical to respond to incidents quickly. The Food and Drug 
Administration and National Telecommunications and Information 
Administration developed detailed guidance around the same concept, and

[[Page 2484]]

NHTSA believes such guidance to be of value to the automotive industry.
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    \15\ https://www.cisa.gov/cyber-storm-securing-cyber-space.
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     [G.12] Manufacturers should evaluate all commercial off-
the-shelf and open-source software components used in vehicle ECUs 
against known vulnerabilities.16 17
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    \16\ MITRE Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) may be 
found at: https://cve.mitre.org/.
    \17\ NIST's National Vulnerability Database may be found at: 
https://nvd.nist.gov/.
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    This best practice highlights the importance of making informed 
decisions about using open source and off-the-shelf software with 
respect to documented vulnerabilities. This is a common practice in 
other domains. NIST established a national database to facilitate such 
action.\18\
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    \18\ See https://nvd.nist.gov/.
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     [G.22] Best practices for secure software development 
should be followed, for example as outlined in NIST 8151 19 
and ISO/SAE 21434.20
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    \19\ Black P., Badger M., Guttman B., Fong E., NISTIR 8151 
Dramatically Reducing Software Vulnerabilities: Report to the White 
House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
    \20\ ISO/SAE 21434 clause 10 discusses software development 
practices.
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    This best practice provides further detailed resources for 
companies to consider for implementation, as appropriate. Comments 
received on the 2016 Cybersecurity Best Practices requested that NHTSA 
incorporate current industry guidance and standards.\21\ Pointing to 
such resources is helpful for all companies, but particularly for 
companies with less mature cybersecurity programs.
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    \21\ See public comments in response to the 2016 Best Practices, 
such as NHTSA-2016-0104-0969, and NHTSA-2016-0104-0998.
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     [G.23] Manufacturers should actively participate in 
automotive industry-specific best practices and standards development 
activities through Auto-ISAC and other recognized standards development 
organizations.
    Industry standards, such as ISO/SAE 21434, are more broadly adopted 
when entities actively participate in their establishment and ensure 
their unique needs are considered and addressed. NHTSA's encouragement 
of industry involvement in standards development organizations is long 
standing.
     [G.30] Commensurate to assessed risks, organizations 
should have a plan for addressing newly identified vulnerabilities on 
consumer-owned vehicles in the field, inventories of vehicles built but 
not yet distributed to dealers, vehicles delivered to dealerships but 
not yet sold to consumers, as well as future products and vehicles.
    During a validated incident, the ability to address the issue for 
the impacted population could vary for vehicles in different stages of 
distribution. A plan that considers these stages can facilitate a more 
effective organizational response. This addition also reflects Clause 7 
of the ISO/SAE 21434 standard.
     [G.40] Any connection to a third-party device should be 
authenticated and provided with appropriate limited access.
    During the life-cycle of a vehicle, consumer devices (e.g., mobile 
phones, insurance dongles) or repair/maintenance tools may be connected 
to the vehicle systems. These systems could enable wireless 
connectivity to the vehicle interface and may not feature adequate 
cyber controls on them. For example, research on an insurance dongle 
inserted into the OBDII port during operation found that it did not 
employ techniques, such as digital signing, that would prevent a cyber 
attacker from reprogramming firmware.\22\ A similar issue is described 
by Argus Cybersecurity on a connected car service.\23\ Accordingly, 
this best practice recommends that vehicle systems should treat such 
devices as untrusted and control their access to safety critical 
systems.
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    \22\ See https://jalopnik.com/progressive-insurances-driver-tracking-tool-is-ridicul-1680720690.
    \23\ See Argus Cyber Security, ``A remote attack on an 
aftermarket telematics service'' (Nov. 7, 2014), available at: 
https://argus-sec.com/remote-attack-aftermarket-telematics-service/
#:~:text=Zubie%20is%20a%20leading%20connected,II%20port%20of%20your%2
0car.
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     [T.7] The use of global symmetric keys and ad-hoc 
cryptographic techniques for diagnostic access should be minimized.\24\
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    \24\ Hogan G., Flashing ECU Firmware Updates from a Web Browser, 
Talk at DefCon 27: Car Hacking Village, Las Vegas. Video of the talk 
may be found at: https://media.defcon.org/DEF%20CON%2027/DEF%20CON%2027%20villages/. Mr. Hogan describes reverse engineering 
enciphered firmware updates.
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    This best practice discourages the use of global symmetric keys or 
unproven cryptographic techniques, which can result in a false sense of 
security for manufacturers and the consumer. This addition is also 
responsive to a comment from a diagnostic tool manufacturer to the 2016 
Best Practices. Further, research shows the ineffectiveness of 
symmetric keys (see footnote in T.7).
     [T.8] Vehicle and diagnostic tool manufacturers should 
control tools' access to vehicle systems that can perform diagnostic 
operations and reprogramming by providing for appropriate 
authentication and access control.\25\
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    \25\ ISO/SAE 21434 requirement [RQ-05-15] states that ``Tools 
that can impact the cybersecurity of an item, system or component 
shall be managed.''
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    This best practice responds to research demonstrating the ability 
to leverage diagnostic tools to reverse engineer and implement 
vulnerabilities in vehicle systems.
     [T.12] Such logs that can be aggregated across vehicles 
should be periodically reviewed to assess potential trends of cyber-
attacks.
    Information aggregated across multiple vehicles in a manufacturer's 
fleet can highlight trends and help a manufacturer recognize a 
cybersecurity attack more quickly, and potentially prior to a 
successful breach, than focusing on only a single vehicle or 
compartmentalized information. This approach is common in the 
enterprise information technology domain,\26\ and applies to the 
automotive realm. T.12 purposefully limits the recommendation to logs 
that can be aggregated.
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    \26\ See Chapter 4: Network based intrusion detection and 
protection systems in NIST 800-94, available at https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Legacy/SP/nistspecialpublication800-94.pdf.
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     [T.13] Manufacturers should treat all networks and systems 
external to a vehicle's wireless interfaces as untrusted and use 
appropriate techniques to mitigate potential threats.
    This is a common approach taken by the stakeholder community and 
NHTSA. Various forms of ``man-in-the-middle'' cyber attacks seen with 
wireless interfaces suggest that information outside the wireless 
interfaces of vehicles should not be trusted until appropriately 
authenticated for intended uses. NHTSA added this best practice to 
reflect learnings from demonstrated man-in-the-middle attacks.
     [T.22] Maintain the integrity of OTA updates, update 
servers, the transmission mechanism and the updating process in 
general.27 28
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    \27\ Bar R., Hacking into Automotive Clouds, talk at DefCon 27 
Car Hacking Village, Las Vegas 2019. Video of the talk: https://media.defcon.org/DEF%20CON%2027/DEF%20CON%2027%20villages/.
    \28\ Rodgers M., Hahaffey K., How to Hack a Tesla Model S, talk 
at DefCon 23, Las Vegas 2015. Video of the talk: https://media.defcon.org/DEF%20CON%2023/DEF%20CON%2023%20video/.
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    OTA updates are updates to vehicle or equipment software that are 
pushed remotely to the vehicle. The OTA update process should not 
introduce cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the process, through either 
the update itself or through the updating process. NHTSA added this 
best practice to reflect learnings discussed in the

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Agency's Cybersecurity of Firmware Updates research report.\29\
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    \29\ https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/cybersecurity_of_firmware_updates_oct2020.pdf
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     [T.23] Take into account, when designing security 
measures, the risks associated with compromised servers, insider 
threats, men-in-the-middle attacks, and protocol vulnerabilities.
    This best practice provides more granular recommendations with 
respect to risk considerations in T.22. As with T.22, NHTSA added this 
to reflect learnings discussed in the Agency's Cybersecurity of 
Firmware Updates research report.\30\
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    \30\ https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nhtsa.dot.gov/files/documents/cybersecurity_of_firmware_updates_oct2020.pdf
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Public Comment

    NHTSA is seeking public comments on the 2020 Best Practices and 
additional ways to improve its usefulness to stakeholders. The updated 
draft document is structured around five key areas: (1) General 
Cybersecurity Best Practices, (2) Education, (3) Aftermarket/User Owned 
Devices, (4) Serviceability, and (5) Technical Vehicle Cybersecurity 
Best Practices, and NHTSA seeks comments on all areas.
    NHTSA will further update and refine this draft document over time, 
based on public comments received, the experience of NHTSA, 
manufacturers, suppliers, consumers, and others, as well as from 
further research findings and technological innovations. The updated 
draft document is available in PDF format under Docket No. NHTSA-2020-
0087.

Economic Analysis for Cybersecurity Best Practices for the Safety of 
Modern Vehicles

    NHTSA is seeking comment on its Cybersecurity Best Practices for 
the Safety of Modern Vehicles (2020 Best Practices), which is non-
binding (i.e., voluntary) guidance provided to serve as a resource for 
industry on safety-related cybersecurity issues for motor vehicles and 
motor vehicle equipment. As guidance, the document touches on a wide 
array of issues related to safety-related cybersecurity practices, and 
provides recommendations to industry on the following topics: (1) 
General Cybersecurity Best Practices, (2) Education, (3) Aftermarket/
User Owned Devices, (4) Serviceability, and (5) Technical Vehicle 
Cybersecurity Best Practices.
    NHTSA has made a good faith effort to assess the potential costs 
that companies in the automotive industry might bear if these companies 
decide to integrate the recommendations in the 2020 Best Practices into 
their business practices. The following is a summary of the 
considerations that NHTSA evaluated for purposes of this section.
    First, although, as guidance, the 2020 Best Practices is voluntary, 
NHTSA expects that many entities will to conform their practices to the 
recommendations endorsed by NHTSA. NHTSA believes that the 
Cybersecurity Best Practices for the Safety of Modern Vehicles serve as 
means of facilitating common understanding across industry regarding 
best practices for cybersecurity.
    Second, the diversity among the entities to which the 2020 Best 
Practices apply is vast. The recommendations found in Cybersecurity 
Best Practices for the Safety of Modern Vehicles are necessarily 
general and flexible enough to be applied to any industry entity, 
regardless of size or staffing. The recommendations contained within 
the best practices are intended to be applicable to all individuals and 
organizations involved in the design, manufacture, and assembly of a 
motor vehicle and its electronic systems and software. These entities 
include, but are not limited to, small and large volume motor vehicle 
and motor vehicle equipment designers, suppliers, manufacturers, and 
modifiers. NHTSA recognizes that there is much organizational diversity 
among the intended audience, resulting in a variety of approaches, 
organizational sizes, and staffing needs. NHTSA also expects that these 
entities have varying levels of organizational maturity related to 
cybersecurity, and varying levels of potential cybersecurity risks. 
These expectations, combined with NHTSA's lack of detailed knowledge of 
the organizational maturity and implementation of any recommendations 
contained within the guidance, make it difficult for NHTSA to develop a 
reasonable quantification of the per-organization cost of implementing 
the recommendations.
    Third, any costs associated with applying the 2020 Best Practices 
would be limited to the incremental cost of applying the new 
recommendations included in the document (as opposed to those in the 
2016 Best Practices). The updated Cybersecurity Best Practices for the 
Safety of Modern Vehicles document highlights a total of 65 enumerated 
best practices, 16 of which could be considered ``new'' relative to the 
first version published in 2016.
    Fourth, costs could be limited by organizations who have 
implemented some of the recommendations prior to this request for 
comment. NHTSA is unaware of the extent to which various entities have 
already implemented NHTSA's recommendations, and determining the 
incremental costs associated with full implementation of the 
recommendations is effectively impossible without detailed insight into 
the organizational processes of every company.
    Fifth, many of NHTSA's recommendations lean very heavily on 
industry standards, such as Draft International Standard SAE/ISO 21434. 
Three of the 16 ``new'' best practices simply reference the SAE/ISO 
21434 industry standard. Since many aspects of NHTSA's recommendations 
are mapped to an industry standard, costs would also be limited for 
those companies who are adopting SAE/ISO 21434 already. Thus, it would 
be impossible to parse whether a company implemented SAE/ISO 21434 or 
whether it had decided to adopt NHTSA's voluntary recommendations. 
While the 2020 Best Practices have some recommendations \31\ that 
cannot be mapped to an industry standards document at this time, most 
of those recommendations involve common vehicle engineering and sound 
business management practices, such as risk assessment and supply-chain 
management. For these recommendations, NHTSA's inclusion in the 2020 
Cyber Best Practices serve as a reminder.
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    \31\ For example, G.6 in Section 4.2.3 recommends consideration 
of sensor vulnerabilities as part of risk assessment; and G.9 and 
G.10 in Section 4.2.6 recommend tracking software components on 
vehicles in a manner similar to hardware components.
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    Regarding benefits, entities that do not implement appropriate 
cybersecurity measures, like those guided by these recommendations, or 
other sound controls, face a higher risk of cyberattack or increased 
exposure in the event of a cyberattack, potentially leading to safety 
concerns for the public.
    Implementation of the best practices can, therefore, facilitate 
``cost prevention'' in the sense that failure to adopt appropriate 
cybersecurity practices could result in other direct or indirect costs 
to companies (i.e., personal injury, vehicle damage, warranty, recall, 
or voluntary repair/updates). A quantitative analysis would require 
present value estimation of future benefits, or a comparison of two 
similar sample groups, one of which is implementing the recommendations 
and the other is not. This comparison would illustrate the differences 
in groups in a way that would allow the benefits attributable to 
implementation of the

[[Page 2486]]

best practices to be calculated. However, neither is possible at this 
time.
    The best practices outlined in this document help organizations 
measure their residual risks better, particularly the safety risks 
associated with potential cybersecurity issues in motor vehicles and 
motor vehicle equipment that they design and manufacture. Further, it 
provides a toolset of techniques they can utilize commensurate to their 
measured risks, and take appropriate actions to reduce or eliminate 
them, and in doing so lower the future liabilities these risks 
represent in terms of safety risks to public and business costs 
associated with addressing them.
    In addition, quantitatively positive externalities have been shown 
to stem from vehicle safety and security measures (Ayres & Levitt, 
1998). The high marginal cost of cybersecurity failures (crashes) 
extend to third parties. Widely accepted adoption of sound 
cybersecurity practices limits these potential costs and lessens 
incentives for attempts at market disruption (i.e., signal 
manipulation, GPS spoofing, or reverse engineering).

How do I prepare and submit comments?

    Your comments must be written and in English. To ensure that your 
comments are filed correctly in the docket, please include the docket 
number of this document in your comments. Your comments must not be 
more than 15 pages long (49 CFR 553.21). NHTSA established this limit 
to encourage you to write your primary comments in a concise fashion. 
However, you may attach necessary additional documents to your 
comments. There is no limit on the length of the attachments. Please 
submit one copy (two copies if submitting by mail or hand delivery) of 
your comments, including the attachments, to the docket following the 
instructions given above under ADDRESSES. Please note, if you submit 
comments electronically as a PDF (Adobe) file, NHTSA asks that the 
documents submitted be scanned using an Optical Character Recognition 
(OCR) process, thus allowing the Agency to search and copy certain 
portions of your submissions.

How do I submit confidential business information?

    If you wish to submit any information under a claim of 
confidentiality, you should submit three copies of your complete 
submission, including the information you claim to be confidential 
business information, to the Office of the Chief Counsel, NHTSA, at the 
address given above under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. In addition, 
you may submit a copy (two copies if submitting by mail or hand 
delivery), from which you have deleted the claimed confidential 
business information, to the docket by one of the methods given above 
under ADDRESSES. When you send a comment containing information claimed 
to be confidential business information, you should include a cover 
letter setting forth the information specified in NHTSA's confidential 
business information regulation (49 CFR part 512).

Will the Agency consider late comments?

    NHTSA will consider all comments received before the close of 
business on the comment closing date indicated above under DATES. To 
the extent possible, the Agency will also consider comments received 
after that date. Given that we intend for the guidance document to be a 
living document and to be developed in an iterative fashion, subsequent 
opportunities to comment will also be provided necessarily.

How can I read the comments submitted by other people?

    You may read the comments received at the address given above under 
Comments. The hours of the docket are indicated above in the same 
location. You may also see the comments on the internet, identified by 
the docket number at the heading of this document, at http://www.regulations.gov.

    Issued in Washington, DC, under authority delegated in 49 CFR 
1.95 and 501.8.
Cem Hatipoglu,
Associate Administrator for Vehicle Safety Research.
[FR Doc. 2021-00390 Filed 1-11-21; 8:45 am]
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