VEHICLE COMPUTING DEVICE AUTHENTICATION

A vehicle communication network is monitored to detect a plurality of electronic control units (ECUs). Upon identifying a new ECU in the plurality of ECUs, a highest ECU trip counter is determined from the plurality of ECUs. A global trip counter stored in the memory is updated based on the highest ECU trip counter. The updated trip global trip counter is greater than the highest ECU trip counter. Then a replacement synchronization message is provided to the plurality of ECUs on the vehicle communication network. The replacement synchronization message includes the updated global trip counter.