Efficient Anonymous Data Authentication for Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

Vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) encounters a critical challenge of efficiently and securely authenticating massive on-road data while preserving the anonymity and traceability of vehicles. This paper designs a new anonymous authentication approach by using an attribute-based signature. Each vehicle is defined by using a set of attributes, and each message is signed with multiple attributes, enabling the anonymity of vehicles. First, a batch verification algorithm is developed to accelerate the verification processes of a massive volume of messages in large-scale VANETs. Second, replicate messages captured by different vehicles and signed under different sets of attributes can be dereplicated with the traceability of all the signers preserved. Third, the malicious vehicles forging data can be traced from their signatures and revoked from attribute groups. The security aspects of the proposed approach are also analyzed by proving the anonymity of vehicles and the unforgeability of signatures. The efficiency of the proposed approach is numerically verified, as compared to the state of the art.