Forensic readiness for autonomous mobility: The forensic incident recorder and information system concept

This paper outlines the essential needs for a forensic incident recorder (FIR) in autonomous vehicles, emphasizing its role in providing comprehensive data for post-incident analysis. The FIR must capture data from various vehicle systems, including onboard sensors, AI decision-making processes, internal diagnostics, V2X communications and cloud-based services, ensuring transparency and accountability. To ensure data integrity, the system must include encryption, tamper detection and redundancy. Furthermore, we introduce the concept of a forensic information system (FIS), an integrated solution for data storage, relevance determination and secure access, incorporating local and cloud-based storage. Triggers for permanent data storage and data upload to the cloud are suggested. Ultimately, the paper aims to highlight the need for comprehensive strategic and operational preparation for forensic investigations in the environment of autonomous, connected mobility. • Strategic and operational preparation for forensic investigations in the environment of autonomous connected mobility is essential. • Effective data gathering, storage duration and controlled access for connected mobility require a sophisticated forensic information system. • We identified relevant data for storage and provided a reasoned suggestion of appropriate data retention periods. • Dynamic data selection and prioritization using AI ensure that relevant data is available for forensic investigations.