By Rasheed Sobowale

An automotive cybersecurity expert is warning that the digital connections between modern vehicles, traffic signals and roadside systems are creating new vulnerabilities that must be addressed as part of transportation safety.

Sunday Aluko, a U.S.-based automotive cybersecurity researcher, had his research indexed this month in the U.S. Department of Transportation [DOT]’s ITS Knowledge Resources, according to the DOT.

In the research, Aluko examined how communication between vehicles, traffic signals, roadside equipment and transportation networks could be compromised.

“As our roads and vehicles become smarter, cybersecurity must become part of transportation safety. Protecting the road also means protecting the digital systems connecting the road to the vehicle,” Aluko said.

The DOT’s ITS Deployment Evaluation notes that Aluko’s work assessed physical, wireless and network-based threats and reviewed defences including intrusion detection, hardware security, blockchain and AI-based anomaly detection.

According to the research, attackers could potentially manipulate transportation data, interfere with connected systems, or exploit vulnerabilities that link digital networks to physical infrastructure.

“The threat does not stop at the roadside,” Aluko said. “Modern vehicles depend on interconnected electronic modules and communication networks. Cybersecurity is now part of vehicle safety and theft prevention.”

Aluko works directly with automotive electronic protocols and in-vehicle communication technologies. His previous research has exposed methods hackers could use to gain unauthorised access to modern vehicles.