Privacy-Preserving Authentication Using Blockchain and Implicit Certificates for Internet of Vehicles*

In Internet of Vehicles (IoV) environments, the scheme's openness and complexity create opportunities for malicious nodes to disseminate false information, leading to data tampering and privacy breaches. Traditional authentication methods rely on trusted third parties for digital certificate verification, which introduces storage overhead and a single point of failure, factors incompatible with the dynamic and resource-constrained nature of IoV networks. This paper proposes a privacy-preserving authentication scheme based on blockchain technology and implicit certificates. The method utilizes pseudonymous certificates to protect vehicle identity privacy and employs implicit certificates as a substitute for traditional digital certificates, addressing the challenges associated with the storage and transmission of conventional certificates in IoV settings. Furthermore, a decentralized management mechanism is implemented for certificate revocation lists (CRL) on the blockchain, mitigating the risk of a single point of failure. To accommodate the high mobility characteristics of vehicles, a rapid reconnection mechanism is introduced, substantially reducing reconnection times and improving communication efficiency. The security analysis and experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method in preserving privacy and improving performance in IoV scenarios.