Secured Small-Key-Based Post Quantum Cryptographic Scheme for Blockchain-based VANET

Blockchain-based Vehicular Ad-hoc Network (VANET) architecture has been gaining popularity due to its distributed and decentralized architecture, efficient data transmission capability, and secure data generation and broadcasting ability over VANET networks. Rating-based or trust-value-based blockchain networks can efficiently play a trusted role by setting up the proof-of-work or proof-of-stake consensus mechanisms. Such a trust management system could ensure privacy-protected and secured vehicle-to-everything communication because of its ability to ensure the veracity of the exchanged messages via a digital signature of a message sender (e.g., vehicle). However, due to the high mobility of vehicles, small key-based encryption is necessary in VANET as it requires less complex computational operations and storage. Existing studies prove that a non-quantum computing-based or classical attack cannot generate a cyber attack on blockchain-based VANET because blockchain can identify the attacker through consensus-based or rating-based mechanisms, hashing, encryption, and its distributed nature with transparency in the public ledger-based approach. The blockchain-based architecture relies on two cryptographic mechanisms to provide security and trust: (1) check the integrity of the data itself using hash functions, and (2) check the ownership of the data with asymmetric cryptography. However, if a quantum algorithm can break the hash function or the cryptographic algorithm, it can create security concerns for any secure communication architectures, such as blockchain, as it uses an encryption technique (mostly on subgroup-finding algorithms utilizing factorization and discrete logarithm), e.g., Rivest-Shamir-Adleman and elliptic curve digital signature algorithms. On the other hand, although prior studies have been conducted on improving the ownership mechanism of blockchain and making it quantum-safe through post-quantum cryptography and quantum key distribution, post-quantum cryptography suffers from periodicity and symmetry. It uses large-size keys, which increase the complexity of the decryption of the key, such as a lattice-based architecture. Hash-based cryptography and multivariate cryptography exhibit a drawback in large signature sizes, leading to a larger block size and, consequently, larger memory size. Similarly, code-based cryptography encounters the issue of increasing complexity due to larger key sizes, demanding extensive memory storage, and the risk of decoding failures when utilizing smaller keys in specific scenarios. Therefore, a novel lightweight Post Quantum Cryptographic (PQC) solution, which could adapt to the dynamic VANET scenario and ensure security against quantum-based attacks, is needed according to the US NIST’s cybersecurity framework. The overarching goal of this project is to develop a new small key-based PQC solution, the Diophantine Isogeny Key Exchange (DIKE) scheme, for VANET to ensure security against quantum-based attacks. Specifically, the objectives of this project are to (1) develop and implement a quantum-based attack model utilizing both quantum Shor’s and Grover’s algorithms on a blockchain-based VANET, which will highlight the need for a quantum-secured blockchain and (2) formulate a new PQC solution, DIKE, which relies on the integration of Diophantine equations and isogenies to provide a secure key exchange mechanism that is resilient against quantum attacks.

• Record URL:
  https://www.clemson.edu/cecas/tracr/research/projects.html

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $272617
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552344812

  69A3552348317

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa

  Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
  P.O. Box 870205
  Tuscaloosa, AL  United States  35487-0205

  Clemson University

  College of Engineering and Science
  109 Riggs Hall, Box 340901
  Clemson, SC  United States  29631-0901
• Managing Organizations:

  National Center for Transportation Cybersecurity and Resiliency

  1 Research Dr
  Greenville, South Carolina  United States  29607

  University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa

  Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
  P.O. Box 870205
  Tuscaloosa, AL  United States  35487-0205
• Project Managers:

  Chowdhury, Mashrur

• Performing Organizations:

  University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa

  Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
  P.O. Box 870205
  Tuscaloosa, AL  United States  35487-0205

  Clemson University

  216 Lowry Hall
  Clemson, SC, SC  United States  29634
• Principal Investigators:

  Rahman, Mizanur

  Chowdhury, Mashrur

  Salek, Sabbir

  Lao, Yingjie

  Zhang, Zhenkai

  Li, Shaozhi

• Start Date: 20240101
• Expected Completion Date: 20241231
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Blockchains; Computer security; System architecture; Vehicular ad hoc networks
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Security and Emergencies; Transportation (General); Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01907735
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Center for Transportation Cybersecurity and Resiliency (TraCR)
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552344812, 69A3552348317
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Feb 9 2024 7:33PM