Enhanced V2R Authentication for VANETs Using Group Signatures and Dynamic Pseudonyms

Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) facilitate real-time information exchange through Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to-Roadside (V2R) communications. While V2R communication plays a crucial role, it faces significant security challenges due to the transmission of sensitive data, leaving the system vulnerable to man-in-the-middle, replay, and impersonation attacks. Previous attempts to enhance security, such as dynamic anonymization and trusted key management, have introduced new challenges, including complex authentication processes, high resource demands, and inadequate privacy protection. To overcome these issues, we propose a lightweight and efficient authentication scheme that enhances vehicle privacy and security through a combination of signatures, pseudonyms, batch verification, and flexible certificate management. Our approach also employs Bloom filters to improve authentication efficiency, addressing the limitations of traditional certificate management systems that suffer from large lists and slow query times. The evaluation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme ensures comprehensive security by providing two-way authentication and guaranteeing anonymity. It effectively prevents replay attacks, DoS attacks, and other potential threats. Moreover, the scheme significantly reduces both communication and computational overhead, offering an efficient and secure solution for V2R communication in VANET. © 2025 IEEE.