Cultivating the cybersecurity leaders of tomorrow

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By Alan Schmadtke | for The Inside Lane

Every summer, the CyberTruck Challenge, with primary backing of the National Motor Freight Traffic Association, holds a week-long event to develop talent and build community around heavy vehicle cybersecurity. The multi-day competition draws computer engineers from across the country to solve a security issue is that is, or could, threaten North America’s long-haul rigs and fleets. The long-term goal, however, is to develop a community for heavy vehicle cybersecurity that goes beyond company and university interests and, in the process, brings awareness, training and passion to the heavy vehicle cyber domain.

Colorado State Associate Professor Jeremy Daily is co-founder (along with Karl Heimer) of the CyberTruck Challenge, and his current students represent the next wave of software engineers who will have the jobs of fending off cyber attacks in the nation’s trucks. We asked Daily to give us a rundown on this year’s CyberTruck Challenge and asked what's keeping him up at night.

What was the focus of this year's CyberTruck Challenge?

As in previous years, the CyberTruck Challenge focused on enhancing the cybersecurity of our heavy truck infrastructure by fostering a collaborative and innovative community. Our mission is always to connect next-generation talent with the heavy-duty trucking industry to keep vehicles secure. We keep this theme consistent across the years because it helps us remain open-minded and focused.

We’ve heard that cybersecurity experts who watch the competition sometimes get amazed by the intelligence of the competitors and how fast they find answers. Did that happen this year?

Absolutely. The challenge is designed to cultivate the cybersecurity leaders of tomorrow, professionals who are both technically skilled and well-connected across the industry. Watching participants in action is always inspiring. Their creativity, speed and insight were especially impressive this year. The diversity of perspectives and expertise often leads to remarkable moments of problem-solving that even seasoned experts find surprising. When you have that diversity of informed and creative minds coming together, you’re bound to come across moments of genius. It’s rewarding to witness.

What worries you right now about the trucking industry?

The worries I have today are the same that I’ve had since we started many years ago: Infrastructural system security still seems to be an afterthought in many areas of our world, including the trucking industry. It is critically important for us to center this work, especially as our world becomes increasingly complex and dependent upon connected technology. 

I’m gratified that over the years we have found support and this community to help combat the issues that keep me up at night. Our hope is to continue improving our relationships with industry and other stakeholders so we can truly transform how we engage with sensitive systems in the technology we want them to employ.

Can you share what some of your students are researching now? Do you, or they, get research ideas from the trucking industry asking you to look into a particular issue?

Much of our research at Colorado State is under nondisclosure agreements, so we’re limited in what we can publicly share. Even the research that isn’t under NDA often requires careful review before release.

Some of the security concepts we explore are conceptual and affect more than just trucking. For example, the protocols used in trucks are also used in other industries like maritime, agriculture and power generation. The connections with industry from the cyber events is helpful in understanding these potential applications.

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The Inside Lane is curated and written by Alan Schmadtke and edited by Bianca Prieto.