Security in Intelligent Transport Systems for Smart Cities: From Theory to Practice

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Cybersecurity
• Intelligent Transportation Systems

Background:

• Secure and reliable vehicular communication is essential for smart city applications.
• Growing security threats necessitate robust protection for connected vehicles.
• Current US and European Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) standards utilize Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) for secure communications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the security architecture of the ETSI ITS standard.
• To implement and benchmark ECC-based digital signature and encryption procedures in a real-world setting.
• To evaluate the performance impact of ECC on vehicular communication quality of service (QoS) and safety.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of the ETSI ITS security architecture.
• Implementation of ECC digital signature and encryption on an experimental test-bed.
• Extensive performance benchmarking considering payload size, processor speed, and security levels.
• Network simulation modeling in dense, realistic smart city scenarios.

Main Results:

• ECC-based security procedures significantly increase packet inter-arrival delays.
• Increased packet and cryptographic losses were observed due to ECC implementation.
• A reduction in safety awareness was noted in safety-critical vehicular applications.
• Performance is contingent on factors like payload size, processor speed, and security levels.

Conclusions:

• Existing ECC security solutions in ITS standards negatively impact QoS and safety awareness.
• Further research is needed to address the performance challenges of security in smart city ITS applications.
• Optimizing security protocols is crucial for the efficient and safe operation of connected vehicles.