Mitigation of Data Integrity Attacks using Blockchain-based Intelligent Transportation System

Abstract

One of the key services of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) is route guidance systems, which rely on real-time information such as traffic state and hazard location to optimize the route of a user's trip. The effectiveness of these guidance systems can be greatly affected by data integrity attacks such as GPS Spoofing and Sensor Deception attacks. This vulnerability can be detrimental to users and is difficult to mitigate with the increasing number of adversaries and targeted global attacks. Additionally, it must be stable and consistent because of the sensitive data that it holds. Due to its nature, ITS impacts other users - even those not part of the system - as they affect traffic efficiency and road safety. Thus, a Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) consortium blockchain-based ITS with smart contracts was implemented. Using a co-simulation of MATLAB and NS3 through MEX bindings, an ITS simulation model was developed. Two types of data integrity attacks, namely GPS Spoofing and Sensor Deception, were integrated into the co-simulation. Afterward, data was gathered across different scenarios. The implemented blockchain-based system mitigated the data integrity attacks implemented and overall improved the security of the system. The smart contracts and consensus algorithm of the blockchain were able to filter malicious packets in the traffic. Together with the preserved ledger, collisions were prevented and stoppages were lessened.