Investigating the security threats in Vehicular ad hoc Networks (VANETs): Towards security engineering for safer on-road transportation

The state-of-the-art improvements in cellular communication and ubiquitous availability of internet have led to significant breakthroughs in intelligent transportation systems where connectivity, autonomous driving and infotainment play a pivotal role in the enhanced driving experience. The Vehicle ad hoc Networks (VANET) have emerged as a distinguished branch of wireless communication pertaining to transportation systems. VANET is intended to dispense on-road vehicle safety and to boost the comfort experienced by drivers, passengers and other commuters. Whereas VANET offers exciting applications and explores unfamiliar dimensions in transportation, concerns regarding VANET security also continue to intensify. Security of vehicular networks, the authenticity and integrity of data dissemination remains a concern of utmost significance in VANET deployment. VANET architecture, by virtue of an abundance of networked vehicles, is susceptible to illegal use, unauthorized access, protocol tunneling, eavesdropping, and denial-of-service as the vehicles are unknowingly exposed to illegitimate information from unidentified adversaries. This paper investigates the security aspects of VANET and the attacks and vulnerabilities the VANET architecture is prone to. The study of security features and flaws is expected to lead to developed broadcasting and routing services, adding to the quality-of-service. Due to mobility of vehicles, large scale networks, rapidly restructuring nodes and frequently changing topological structure; a fundamental requirement of VANETs is to ensure safe transmission of the time critical data. The paper examines various security threats in VANETs, analyses how they are implemented and their impact on the VANET security architecture. A few gaps in the VANET security frameworks have also been highlighted which can be worked upon in the future.

I. Introduction

Regardless of a striking operational life of over 40 years, the existence and applications of internet and cyberinfrastructure still continue to evolve. More than ever before, the internet and wireless communication has affected our lives by opening countless possibilities and opportunities [1]. The recent trend in interdisciplinary research has been to embed everyday objects with computers and communication capabilities [2]. Of late, data transfer and information processing has emerged as a widespread phenomenon, permeating almost every type of object. One such category of communication capable smart devices is intelligent vehicles, intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and communication capable roadside infrastructure. These smart vehicles function based on the principles of Vehicle ad hoc Networks (VANET), which is essentially a computer-to-computer network where mobile nodes, i.e. vehicles, behaving as computers, connect directly to each other, rather than to a server or hub. The vehicles themselves form a temporary network, and the participating vehicles also serve as a wireless router, acting over an approximate range of 100–300 meters of each other. As the nodes are mobile, they continuously fall out of the signal range and drop out of a particular network, join in a neighboring network, connecting vehicles to one another thus maintaining a mobile internet [3]. The VANET architecture is also extended to road side infrastructure, known as InfoStations (IS) and Road Side Units (RSU) as depicted in figure 1. As vehicles tend to move in an organized fashion, therefore the interactions with RSU is also characterized fairly accurately. VANETs have succeeded in addressing a number of today's traffic challenges and enable drivers to have better awareness of their driving environment and take timely and evasive actions in response to abnormal situations. VANETs lend a valuable contribution to solve many traffic and road-safety problems and in the recent years, the road transportation system with the help of VANET is being evolved into a safer and efficient establishment [4].