Master Thesis Proposal

Hand Over the Keys: Security of CCC Digital Key

1 Problem Statement

Digital car keys allow smartphones and other devices to replace traditional physical keys, enabling users to unlock and access their vehicles through wireless communication. As these solutions become increasingly standardized, their security becomes important not only for individual manufacturers but also for the wider automotive ecosystem. The Car Connectivity Consortium (CCC) has developed a partially open specification for Digital Key, defining standardized protocols and interactions between the mobile device, the Digital Key app, the vehicle, and the supporting infrastructure operated by manufacturers and other platform providers [1]. Being a recent technology, there is no testbed yet to evaluate its security and privacy. This project will build upon an existing, custom testbed that requires improvements and to be used for an actual security analysis. The goal is to facilitate access to Digital Key testing, understand the security guarantees provided the specification, and strengthen them if vulnerabilities are found.

2 Project Plan

1. Literature and Specification Review: The student will study the CCC Digital Key specification, relevant automotive security research, and previous work on digital car key systems.
2. Experimental Setup: The student will become familiar with the existing, custom toolkit and relevant development and analysis tools. The setup may be extended to support additional protocol features.
3. Security Analysis: The student will investigate potential weaknesses in the Digital Key ecosystem. Possible directions include reverse engineering, analyzing authentication and pairing procedures, and assessing the effectiveness of existing security mechanisms.
4. Evaluation and Mitigation: The student will validate relevant findings in the Digital Key toolkit and possibly real-world use cases, assessing the security implications of this new technology. Performances and improvements will also be proposed.

3 Ideal Background

You are interested in automotive and the security of protocols used in real-world systems. This project builds upon research conducted by the supervisor, Marco Casagrande. You will have a chance to test your skills, add an impactful project to your CV, and gain experience with protocol security and security testing. Relevant Skills. Proficiency in programming and scripting languages, such as Python and Java. Basic knowledge of security and privacy, wireless networks, and Android. Optionally, experience with the NFC technology.

4 Thesis Supervisor

Marco Casagrande is a postdoc in cybersecurity at Orebro University. He specializes in Android security and reverse engineering and is passionate about hands-on, hacking-oriented research. In addition to his academic publications, he has been invited to speak at prominent security conferences, including Black Hat USA, DEF CON, and Hardwear.io. He is actively involved in vulnerability research and has reported security issues to technology companies and industry organizations.

References

[1] Car Connectivity Consortium. CCC Digital Key. url: https://carconnectivity.
org/digital-key/ (visited on 10/25/2026).