VDTLS - Providing secure communications in vehicle networks

A novel security mechanism, called Vehicular Datagram Transport Layer Security (VDTLS), for providing secure User Datagram Protocol (UDP)-based communications in vehicle networks is described. VDTLS extends the Internet standard protocol DTLS and integrates a recent development in asymmetric cryptography, called Identity Based Encryption (IBE), to effectively address the unique challenges in providing secure communications in vehicle networks, e.g., a large number of mobile nodes, limited over-the-air bandwidth, unreliable, intermittent network connectivity, and privacy. VDTLS is being used in the US Department of Transportation's (US DOT's) Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) Proof-of-Concept (POC) Trial in 2008.