Lightweight Cryptographic Techniques for Automotive Cybersecurity

A new integration of wireless communication technologies into the automobile industry has instigated a momentous research interest in the field of Vehicular Ad Hoc Network (VANET) security. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) are set up, aiming to offer promising applications for efficient and safe communication for future automotive technology. Vehicular networks are unique in terms of characteristics, challenges, architecture, and applications. Consequently, security requirements related to vehicular networks are more complex as compared to mobile networks and conventional wireless networks. This article presents a survey about developments in vehicular networks from the perspective of lightweight cryptographic protocols and privacy preserving algorithms. Unique characteristics of vehicular networks are presented which make the embedded security applications computationally hard as well as memory constrained. The current study also deals with the fundamental security requirements, essential for vehicular communication. Furthermore, awareness of security threats and their cryptographic solutions in terms of future automotive industry are discussed. In addition, asymmetric, symmetric, and lightweight cryptographic solutions are summarized. These strategies can be enhanced or incorporated all in all to meet the security perquisites of future cars security.