Secure Vehicular Communication Using Blockchain Technology 2020-01-0722

The cars we drive are rapidly transforming. Connected vehicles in the context of the Advanced Driver Assistance System or Autonomous Vehicles are about to change the way we drive cars. Connected Vehicles are futuristic vehicles that can interact with other vehicles for passing on information such as, mapping and localization, information about road traffic and driving behaviour. However, such vehicles, particularly the autonomous ones, are prone to a variety of attacks including cyber-attacks. These malicious attacks can intrude a vehicle that not only endangers the vehicles safety, but also the life of passengers and the nearby environment. Thus, identifying and eliminating these attacks for providing a secure communication environment is of great need. Also, all the existing methods for vehicular communication rely on a centralized server which itself invite massive cyber-security threats. These threats and challenges can be addressed by using the Blockchain (BC) technology, where each transaction is logged in a decentralized immutable BC ledger. In this work, we show how BC can facilitate communication between connected vehicles to send and receive information while assuring the security of all the vehicles participating in the BC network. First, we developed an application for the blockchain based less-complex Proof-of-Work consensus method that allows the vehicles to transfer information in a secured manner. Second, we demonstrate the working of the application using raspberry pi board that act as vehicles mounted with sensors and two computers that act as blockchain network. Finally, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of blockchain based vehicular communication and the integration of the blockchain with VANET as well.