Secure, Robust, and Energy-Efficient Authenticated Data Sharing in Drone to Vehicles Communications

In response to the need for reliable and secure communication systems to ensure public safety in sixth-generation (6G) wireless networks, this paper addresses the challenges of utilizing drones (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or UAV) for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication. While 6G networks promise rapid data delivery with minimal latency, ensuring consistent connectivity poses a significant challenge, particularly in scenarios vital for public safety. To mitigate these challenges, we propose integrating drones into the communication infrastructure. Our novel approach in-volves drones collaboratively retrieving content from service providers and establishing secure connections with vehicles to facilitate secuer and efficient data exchange. We propose two innovative protocols: SeGDS for coordinated group data retrieval among drones, and SeDDS for secure direct data sharing with vehicles. These protocols offer lightweight, certificate-free solutions with features such as vehicle revocation, non-repudiation, and mutual authentication. Empha-sizing high availability, our protocols effectively detect and mitigate Denial of Service (DoS) and free riding attacks. This ensures robust security for UAV swarm deployments and public safety. Furthermore, we evaluate the energy efficiency of our proposed protocols, demonstrating their effectiveness in reducing energy consumption compared to existing methods. Specifically, SeDDS reduces computation overhead by 1.5x, while SeGDS decreases communication costs by 2.5x. Leveraging certificateless signcryption and certificateless multi-receiver encryption, our protocols for the first time provide a comprehensive solution for securing and enhancing communication in 6G networks, critical for public safety and mission-critical services.