A Survey of Authentication Techniques in Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks

Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) are a type of mobile ad hoc network that have emerged in the last decade of technological and application perspectives. Security in vehicular communication networks is very important due to the plethora of possible security attacks. Being a security requirement, authentication holds a key role in VANETs, because compromising it may have severe consequences, such as road accidents or loss of life. Recently, the number of research results reported in this particular field has increased. Due to its importance for safe operation, a holistic survey is very much required on the different authentication mechanisms used in VANETs. This article, aimed at this need, starts with the taxonomy of authentication mechanisms. Then it reviews the different authentication mechanisms proposed in the literature, highlighting their drawbacks and advantages. Finally, the article concludes with suggestions for future research directions focused on a better authentication mechanism for use in vehicular communication.