Angoka, in Belfast, has developed a security system specifically for fleets of autonomous vehicles (writes Nick Flaherty).

The system starts with a physically unclonable function (PUF), a unique ID assigned to a particular vehicle. This is generated from a set of parameters that cannot be recreated, and means that even if a comms module is moved from one vehicle to another it will not work, avoiding the problem of spoofing.

This PUF is used to generate a symmetric quantum key using a random number generator. Angoka has developed a technique to share this key over Ethernet or wireless links; previously a fibre optic connection was necessary.

This key then allows data to be sent securely form an autonomous vehicle to a secure service on Amazon Web Services.

The key length is optimised for the network, as a low-bandwidth network such as LoRaWan would be overwhelmed by a long key length. The key can be changed on a schedule set by the operator, ranging from every minute to hours or days depending on the level of security required.