Provably secure fog-based authentication protocol for VANETs

The integration of fog computing and vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) has become increasingly important due to advancements in cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, and intelligent transportation systems. However, ensuring secure communication in fog-based VANETs poses a significant challenge. To address this challenge, we propose a novel authenticated key agreement protocol that achieves mutual authentication, generates a secure session key for confidential communication, and ensures privacy protection without relying on bilinear pairing. We provide rigorous security proofs for our protocol, specifically tailored for fog-based VANETs, demonstrating its ability to meet their stringent security requirements. Simulations using NS3 allow for a comprehensive performance evaluation, providing insights into the protocol's efficiency and scalability. Additionally, our protocol is highly efficient, featuring low computation and communication costs, thereby offering a practical and scalable solution for secure communication in fog-based VANETs.