Using Adaptive Zero-Knowledge Authentication Protocol in VANET Automotive Network

One of the most important components of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) is the automotive self-organizing VANET network (vehicular ad hoc network). Its nodes are vehicles with specialized onboard units (OBU) installed on them. Such a network can be subject to various attacks. To reduce the effectiveness of a number of attacks on the VANET, it is advisable to use authentication protocols. Well-known authentication protocols support a security policy with full trust in roadside unit (RSU) base stations. The disadvantage of these authentication protocols is the ability of the RSU to track the route of the vehicle. This leads to a violation of the privacy and anonymity of the vehicle’s owner. To eliminate this drawback, the article proposes an adaptive authentication protocol. An advantage of this protocol is the provision of high imitation resistance without using symmetric and asymmetric ciphers. This result has been achieved by using a zero-knowledge authentication protocol. A scheme for adapting the protocol parameters depending on the intensity of the user’s traffic has been developed for the proposed protocol. The scientific novelty of this solution is to reduce time spent on authentication without changing the protocol execution algorithm by reducing the number of modular exponentiation operations when calculating true and “distorted” digests of the prover and verifying the correctness of responses, as well as by reducing the number of responses. Authentication, as before, takes place in one round without changing the bit depth of the modulus used in the protocol. To evaluate the effectiveness of the adaptive authentication protocol, the VANET model was implemented using NS-2. The obtained research results have shown that the adaptation of the authentication protocol in conditions of increased density of vehicles on the road makes it possible to increase the volume of data exchange between OBU and RSU by reducing the level of confidentiality. In addition, a mechanism for verifying the authority of the vehicle’s owner for provided services has been developed. As a result of the implementation of this mechanism, vehicle registration sites (VRS) calculate the public key of the vehicle without using encryption and provide necessary services to the owner.