Protecting Hybrid ITS Networks: A Comprehensive Security Approach

• Published in: Future internet Vol. 15; no. 12; p. 388
• Main Authors: Severino, Ricardo, Simão, José, Datia, Nuno, Serrador, António
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.12.2023
• Subjects: C-ITS; Cellular communication; cellular network; Cellular radio; Communication; Fatalities; hybrid network; Intelligent transportation systems; Internet; ITS-G5; Networks; Performance evaluation; Privacy; Public Key Infrastructure; Roads; Roadsides; Security; Security management; Smartphones; Traffic; Transportation safety; Vehicles
• ISSN: 1999-5903; 1999-5903
• DOI: 10.3390/fi15120388

Cooperative intelligent transport systems (C-ITS) continue to be developed to enhance transportation safety and sustainability. However, the communication of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) systems is inherently open, leading to vulnerabilities that attackers can exploit. This represents a threat to all road users, as security failures can lead to privacy violations or even fatalities. Moreover, a high fatality rate is correlated with soft-mobility road users. Therefore, when developing C-ITS systems, it is important to broaden the focus beyond connected vehicles to include soft-mobility users and legacy vehicles. This work presents a new approach developed in the context of emerging hybrid networks, combining intelligent transport systems operating in 5.9 GHz (ITS-G5) and radio-mobile cellular technologies. Two protocols were implemented and evaluated to introduce security guarantees (such as privacy and integrity) in communications within the developed C-ITS hybrid environment. As a result, this work securely integrates G5-connected ITS stations and soft-mobility users through a smartphone application via cellular networks. Commercial equipment was used for this goal, including on-board and roadside units. Computational, transmission and end-to-end latency were used to assess the system’s performance. Implemented protocols introduce an additional 11% end-to-end latency in hybrid communications. Moreover, workflows employing hybrid communications impose, on average, an extra 28.29 ms of end-to-end latency. The proposal shows promise, as it reaches end-to-end times below the latency requirements imposed in most C-ITS use cases.