Integrating Autonomous Vehicle Safety and Security Analysis Using STPA Method and the Six-Step Model

Safety and security are two inter-dependent key properties of autonomous vehicles. They are aimed at protecting the vehicles from accidental failures and intentional attacks, which could lead to injuries and loss of lives. The selection of safety and security countermeasures for autonomous vehicles depends on the driving automation levels, defined by the international standard SAE J3016. However, current vehicle safety standards ISO 26262 do not take the driving automation levels into consideration. We propose an approach for integrating autonomous vehicle safety and security processes, which is compliant with the international standards SAE J3016, SAE J3061, and ISO 26262, and which considers driving automation levels. It incorporates the System-Theoretic Process Analysis method into autonomous vehicle safety analysis, and uses the Six-Step Model as a backbone for achieving integration and alignment among safety and security processes and artefacts throughout the entire autonomous vehicle’s lifecycle.