Lightweight Authentication Protocols for Internet of Vehicles: Network Model, Taxonomy and Challenges

Internet of Vehicles (IoV) has dominated intelligent transportation systems (ITS) because of many traits, including compatibility with portable devices, large network scale, high processing ability, and dynamic topology systems, etc. It is particularly crucial for autonomous vehicles due to their ability to communicate with other nearby vehicles and make correct driving decisions. Since open channels are used for all communication in the IoV environment, it offers an opportunity for an adversary to extract, delete, insert, or modify data during communication. In this paper, an in-depth review of the security of IoV is presented out by discussing an authentication and key agreement model utilized in IoV communication. Then we present a taxonomy of lightweight authentication protocols in IoV, including its cryptographic techniques, evolution, and architecture. A thorough comparison study of recently proposed lightweight authentication protocols for the IoV environment is done based on security attacks, functionality features, and communication costs. Finally, we identify the existing challenges and future directions necessary to address in the near future.