Multi-layered Authentication and Key Management Scheme for Secure IoV

2025-01-10

AI Summary

To address security risks and scalability bottlenecks arising from centralized identity authentication in high-speed, high-density vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), this paper proposes a decentralized multi-layer authentication and key management mechanism that eliminates the need for a central group manager. The method enables autonomous mutual authentication among vehicles within a group, integrating batch processing, lightweight elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), zero-knowledge proofs, and hash chains. It supports bidirectional authentication, secure key agreement, and strong privacy guarantees—including identity unlinkability—while resisting collusive attacks. Experimental results demonstrate high efficiency: under a 100-vehicle scenario, average authentication latency is merely 10.61 ms and verification takes only 1.78 ms; performance remains scalable and efficient even with 500 vehicles, significantly outperforming state-of-the-art schemes.

Technology Category

• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Scalability, Parallel & Distributed Systems
• Multiagent Systems: Mechanism Design
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Virtualization and resource management in Web systems and infrastructures
• Semantics and Knowledge: Provenance, trust, security and privacy, and ethical issues in managing semantic data

Abstract

The rapid development of Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs) within the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) necessitates efficient and secure authentication methods to support high-speed, high-density environments. Current group authentication schemes provide user identity protection and unlinkability but face limitations, such as reliance on a central group manager and vulnerability to collaborative attacks. This paper presents a privacy-preserving authentication scheme that incorporates batch authentication, mutual authentication, and secure key establishment, enabling users to authenticate one another without a central authority. Our proposed scheme facilitates simultaneous multi-user authentication, significantly enhancing scalability and security in dynamic IoV networks. Results from realistic implementations show that our method achieves average authentication and verification times of 10.61 ms and 1.78 ms, respectively, for a fleet of 100 vehicles, outperforming existing methods. Scalability tests demonstrate efficient processing for larger groups of up to 500 vehicles, where average authentication times remain low, establishing our scheme as a robust solution for secure communication in IoV systems.

Problem

• Decentralized Authentication
• Vehicular Networks
• High-Density Mobility

Innovation

• Decentralized Authentication
• Multilayer Verification
• Efficient Key Management