B-SAFE: Blockchain-Enabled Security Architecture for Connected Vehicle Fog Environment

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Cybersecurity
• Networking

Background:

• The Internet of Connected Vehicles (IoV) integrates vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications, creating new security vulnerabilities like online vehicle hijacking.
• Traditional security solutions face limitations in IoV due to intermittent connectivity and constrained vehicle computing power.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel Blockchain-enabled Security Architecture for a connected vehicular Fog networking Environment (B-SAFE).
• To address the security challenges in IoV, specifically online hijacking, by leveraging blockchain technology within a fog networking context.

Main Methods:

• Introduction of blockchain security principles and vehicular fog networking concepts.
• Presentation of a three-layer B-SAFE architecture: vehicular communication, fog node blockchain implementation, and cloud-based trust/reward management.
• Detailed explanation of the blockchain implementation at fog nodes, including a flowchart and algorithm.

Main Results:

• The B-SAFE framework demonstrates effectiveness in enhancing security within the IoV environment.
• Evaluation results confirm the benefits of B-SAFE in terms of trust management, reward point systems, and threshold calculations.
• The proposed architecture provides a robust solution for securing connected vehicles against cyber threats.

Conclusions:

• B-SAFE offers a viable and effective security solution for the evolving landscape of connected vehicles.
• The integration of blockchain in vehicular fog networks significantly improves the security posture of IoV systems.
• The framework successfully mitigates risks associated with online vehicle hijacking and enhances overall system integrity.