A Novel Privacy-Preserving Authentication Protocol Using Bilinear Pairings for the VANET Environment

With the rapid development of communication and microelectronic technology, the vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) has received extensive attention. However, due to the open nature of wireless communication links, it will cause VANET to generate many network security issues such as data leakage, network hijacking, and eavesdropping. To solve the above problem, this paper proposes a new authentication protocol which uses bilinear pairings and temporary pseudonyms. The proposed authentication protocol can realize functions such as the identity authentication of the vehicle and the verification of the message sent by the vehicle. Moreover, the proposed authentication protocol is capable of preventing any party (peer vehicles, service providers, etc.) from tracking the vehicle. To improve the efficiency of message verification, this paper also presents a batch authentication method for the vehicle to verify all messages received within a certain period of time. Finally, through security and performance analysis, it is actually easy to find that the proposed authentication protocol can not only resist various security threats but also have good computing and communication performance in the VANET environment.