PUCA: A pseudonym scheme with user-controlled anonymity for vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANET)

Abstract

Envisioned vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANET) standards use pseudonym certificates to provide secure and privacy-friendly message authentication. Revocation of long-term credentials is required to remove participants from the system, e.g. in case of vehicle theft. However, the current approach to revocation puts the users' privacy at risk if the backend systems are not fully trusted.We propose PUCA -a scheme that provides full anonymity, even against colluding backend providers, until the owner of a vehicle triggers revocation himself. The scheme uses anonymous credentials for authentication with the backend while leaving the communication among vehicles and with road side units unchanged and in compliance with existing standards.With PUCA, we put drivers back in charge of their privacy while still allowing revocation of long-term credentials.

Assessment of attribute-based credentials for privacy-preserving road traffic services in smart cities

“…This section explores which requirements are present for each one. Tables 3 and 4 summarize [17,19,20,43,48]. One important remark is that most of them are the same than the identified ABC features.…”

“…The system is described but specifications regarding credentials management are not provided. More recently, PUCA, a pseudonym scheme with user-controlled anonymity for VANETs is presented [20]. Anonymous credentials are used for authentication purposes in car-to-X communications applying Camenisch et al approach [13].…”

“…The Application component of the OBU collaborates with the Security MIB and the HSM to build up the presentation token according to the specified policy (msgs. [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. The Application at the verifier then checks the token validity and the commitment correctness (msgs.…”

Scalable broadcast authentication for V2V communication

“…The key requirement for the effectiveness of pseudonyms is their unlinkability for attackers, while authorities may have the ability to resolve pseudonymous identities to the owner of a vehicle. Depending on this effectiveness, this kind of pseudonymous authentication scheme can offer revocable privacy [123] or even reasonable levels of true anonymity [54] However, important details remain underspecified and subject to research. The biggest open question concerns the strategy for pseudonym changes, which has a large influence on the effectiveness of pseudonyms.…”

“…In [53] it is suggested to insert attributed based authentication into the V2V broadcast authentication domain at the pseudonym issuance stage. This can effectively weaken revocable privacy, which enhances anonymity, and avoids the performance penalties of using attributed based cryptography by continuing to use pseudonymous certification for the V2V broadcast.…”