Sensor Data Confidence Scoring for Secure Automated Machines

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Solution Overview

Problem

Automated machines, such as self-driving vehicles, are vulnerable to security breaches when sensors are compromised by malware, leading to potential safety risks due to erroneous driving commands.

Innovation Solution

A communication system that includes a security server and a sensor security evaluation application, which assigns a security confidence score to sensor data based on vulnerability, location, and staleness factors, allowing the automated machine to differentiate and mitigate risky data.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Speed

If sensor data is processed without security verification, then processing speed is improved, but security reliability deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata processing speedVSAvoidsecurity reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs security verification in advance by calculating security confidence scores for sensor data before the automated machine processes it. This preliminary security assessment prevents malicious data from entering the processing pipeline, maintaining both security reliability and processing speed by filtering threats beforehand rather than during processing.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If security verification is performed on all sensor data, then security reliability is improved, but processing time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesecurity reliabilityVSAvoiddata processing time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies security verification selectively rather than uniformly to all sensor data. By calculating security confidence scores and comparing them against thresholds, the system focuses verification efforts on data with potential security risks while allowing clearly safe data to pass through with minimal processing, thus maintaining security reliability without excessive time loss.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

3Reliability

If security confidence scoring is implemented, then security differentiation is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesecurity differentiationVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The system introduces a security server as an intermediary component that handles the complex security confidence score calculation and verification processes. This separates the security verification function from the main automated machine processing system, improving security differentiation while managing system complexity by isolating the complex security logic in a dedicated external service.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentEP3756372B1Providing secure sensor data to automated machines
Publication Date: 2023.03.15 BLACKBERRY LTD
  • EP3756372B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3756372B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3

AI summary

Systems, methods, and software can be used to provide secure sensor data. In some aspects, a computer-implemented method includes: receiving, at a sensor security evaluation application executing on a device, sensor data from a sensor on the device; determining, by the sensor security evaluation application, a security confidence score associated with the sensor data; and transmitting, from the sensor security evaluation application, the security confidence score and the sensor data to a smart machine processor on the device.