Security and Privacy Challenges in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks

Abstract

The steady increase in the number of vehicles on the roads comes with an increased number of accidents and fatalities. The manufacturers’ interest in providing services to the driver (customer), along with safety applications, have contributed to connecting vehicles in networks on the fly (i.e., Ad Hoc networks), to provide certain services and information to the driver. These Ad Hoc networks consist of mobile vehicles that are located in a certain geographical zone and within a certain radius of each other, and communicate with each other or with road side units (RSUs) over the wireless medium. In addition, these mobile vehicles share some common characteristic, e.g., driving direction. These networks are well known as Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs). From the extensive adoption and development of Internet of Things (IoT), and the integration of and convergence between VANETs and IoT, has emerged a new type of network known as Internet of Vehicles (IoV). VANETs, IoV and Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) have witnessed an explosive growth over the past two decades. This growth and the wide gamut of applications and services, these systems and networks have also increased the threats and attacks against these networks as well as raised many security and privacy concerns. In this book chapter, we describe the need for security in VANETs in terms of security requirements, current challenges in securing VANETs and present current security issues related to these networks. In particular, we deliver a comprehensive and up-to-date summary of threats and attacks in VANETs. Additionally, we present proposed solutions and countermeasures to mitigate these threats and attacks in order to secure and defend VANETs against them.