Integrated IoT-Based Secure and Efficient Key Management Framework Using Hashgraphs for Autonomous Vehicles to Ensure...

Area of Science:

• Cybersecurity in transportation systems.
• Decentralized network architectures.
• Applied cryptography and key management.

Background:

• Autonomous vehicles (AVs) utilize Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs) for communication, often in a centralized manner.
• Centralized VANETs are vulnerable to cyber-attacks, risking data loss and road accidents.
• Existing key management solutions in centralized VANETs struggle to ensure data integrity and privacy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the limitations of centralized VANETs and blockchain-based key management in AVs.
• To propose an advanced, secure, and efficient key management framework for AV communication.
• To leverage hashgraph technology for enhanced performance and security in vehicular networks.

Main Methods:

• Developed a novel key management framework utilizing hashgraph technology.
• Integrated concepts of Leaving of Vehicles (LoV) and Logical Key Hierarchy (LKH).
• Employed Batch Rekeying for efficient key updates.
• Tested and compared the framework's performance against existing systems.

Main Results:

• The proposed hashgraph-based framework demonstrates improved transaction processing capabilities compared to traditional blockchains.
• The system effectively ensures data integrity and stakeholder privacy in vehicular networks.
• Evaluations show competitive transaction compilation times and manageable changes in traffic rates.

Conclusions:

• Hashgraph technology offers significant advantages over traditional blockchains for AV key management due to its speed and security.
• The developed framework provides a robust solution for secure communication in autonomous vehicular networks.
• This approach enhances the overall safety and efficiency of autonomous driving systems.