Abstract:

In the evolving landscape of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), ensuring secure and reliable communication among vehicles is critical to achieving safety, efficiency, and automation in vehicular networks. Integrating advanced technologies like quantum communication and blockchain enhances the robustness of security mechanisms in Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) interactions. However, existing V2V authentication methods face significant challenges, including vulnerability to quantum attacks, reliance on centralized certificate authorities, and susceptibility to identity spoofing and key compromise. These limitations hinder scalability and compromise the trustworthiness of vehicular communication. To address these issues, this paper proposes Quantum and Unified Blockchain for Intelligent Vehicle Authentication (QUBIVA). QUBIVA integrates Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) for generating unconditionally secure cryptographic keys and a lightweight blockchain-based identity management system to enable decentralized and tamper-resistant authentication of vehicle identities. The use of QKD ensures that encryption keys cannot be intercepted or replicated, while blockchain provides a distributed ledger for verifying vehicle credentials and enforcing access control through smart contracts. The proposed QUBIVA framework facilitates secure and scalable V2V communication by eliminating central points of failure and providing real-time mutual authentication among vehicles. It is particularly useful in dynamic urban environments where high-speed authentication and strong resistance to cyberattacks are crucial. Experimental analysis and simulations demonstrate that QUBIVA significantly enhances the security, trust, and efficiency of V2V authentication compared to conventional methods. It achieves lower latency in key exchange, higher resistance to identity-based attacks, and robust performance in high-density traffic scenarios, making it a viable solution for next-generation ITS security frameworks.