VANET Secure Reputation Evaluation & Management Model Based on Double Layer Blockchain

Abstract

Vehicle ad-hoc network (VANET) is interconnected through message forwarding and exchanging among vehicle nodes. Due to its highly dynamic topology and its wireless and heterogeneous communication mode, VANET is more vulnerable to security threats from multiple parties. Compared to entity-based security authentication, it is essential to consider how to protect the security of the data itself. Existing studies have evaluated the reliability of interactive data through reputation quantification, but there are still some issues in the design of secure reputation management schemes, such as its low efficiency, poor security, and unreliable management. Aiming at the above-mentioned issues, in this paper we propose an effective VANET model with a secure reputation based on a blockchain, and it is called the double-layer blockchain-based reputation evaluation & management model (DBREMM). In the DBREMM, we design a reputation management model based on two parallel blockchains that work collaboratively, and these are called the event chain and reputation chain. A complete set of reputation evaluation schemes is presented. Our schemes can reduce observation errors and improve evaluation reliability during trust computation by using direct trust calculation based on the multi-factor Bayesian inference. Additionally, we propose an indirect trust calculation based on the historical accumulated reputation value with an attenuation factor, and a secure a reputation fusion scheme based on the number threshold with the fluctuation factor, which can reduce the possibility of attacks, such as collusive attacks and false information injection. Theoretical analysis and extensive simulation experiments reflect the DBREMM’s security algorithm effectiveness, accuracy, and ability to resist several attacks.