Secure Anonymous Broadcasting in Vehicular Networks

Vehicular networks face a typical quandary in their requirement for communications that are at once secure and private. While the messages broadcast between vehicles and between vehicles and the supporting infrastructure must be authentic and non repudiable, they must also ensure the vehicle driver´s anonymity. The Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) framework´s Wireless Access in Vehicular Environments (WAVE) application development architecture mandates the use of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) mechanisms for securing messages, consequently compromising the driver´s expectation of privacy. In this paper, we propose a WAVE-based protocol for the secure and anonymous propagation of vehicle safety broadcast messages. A hybrid key infrastructure approach is put forth which combines the use of a shared network authorization key for devices that require anonymity and PKI for devices that do not.