Existing research shows that Cluster-based Medium Access Control (CB-MAC) protocols perform well in controlling and managing Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET), but requires ensuring improved security and privacy preserving authentication mechanism. To this end, we propose a multi-level blockchain-based privacy-preserving authentication protocol. The paper thoroughly explains the formation of the authentication centers, vehicles registration, and key generation processes. In the proposed architecture, a global authentication center (GAC) is responsible for storing all vehicle information, while Local Authentication Center (LAC) maintains a blockchain to enable quick handover between internal clusters of vehicle. We also propose a modified control packet format of IEEE 802.11 standards to remove the shortcomings of the traditional MAC protocols. Moreover, cluster formation, membership and cluster-head selection, and merging and leaving processes are implemented while considering the safety and non-safety message transmission to increase the performance. All blockchain communication is performed using high speed 5G internet while encrypted information is transmitted while using the RSA-1024 digital signature algorithm for improved security, integrity, and confidentiality. Our proof-of-concept implements the authentication schema while considering multiple virtual machines. With detailed experiments, we show that the proposed method is more efficient in terms of time and storage when compared to the existing methods. Besides, numerical analysis shows that the proposed transmission protocols outperform traditional MAC and benchmark methods in terms of throughput, delay, and packet dropping rate.

The efficiency of cooperative communication protocols to increase the reliability and range of transmission for Vehicular Ad hoc Network (VANET) is proven, but identity verification and communication security are required to be ensured. Though it is difficult to maintain strong network connections between vehicles because of there high mobility, with the help of cooperative communication, it is possible to increase the communication efficiency, minimise delay, packet loss, and Packet Dropping Rate (PDR). However, cooperating with unknown or unauthorized vehicles could result in information theft, privacy leakage, vulnerable to different security attacks, etc. In this paper, a blockchain based secure and privacy preserving authentication protocol is proposed for the Internet of Vehicles (IoV). Blockchain is utilized to store and manage the authentication information in a distributed and decentralized environment and developed on the Ethereum platform that uses a digital signature algorithm to ensure confidentiality, non-repudiation, integrity, and preserving the privacy of the IoVs. For optimized communication, transmitted services are categorized into emergency and optional services. Similarly, to optimize the performance of the authentication process, IoVs are categorized as emergency and general IoVs. The proposed cooperative protocol is validated by numerical analyses which show that the protocol successfully increases the system throughput and decreases PDR and delay. On the other hand, the authentication protocol requires minimum storage as well as generates low computational overhead that is suitable for the IoVs with limited computer resources.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is creating a massive impact in a wide range of applications. In addition, with the forthcoming 5G and 6G technologies, vehicular ad-hoc networks will have pioneer advancements. However, security concerns are not well addressed, as vehicular networks should be deployed at a large scale. To address the security concerns, especially to ensure secure emergency message transmission, a blockchain-based protocol is proposed in this paper, where one of the blockchains is to store the authentication information of the vehicle, and another one to store and distribute blockchain services. Experimental analysis revealed that the proposed blockchain-based protocols are superior than the existing ones in terms of several metrics.

Cryptocurrencies acquire user confidence by making the whole creation and transaction history transparent to the public. In exchange, the transaction history accurately captures the complete range of user activities related to cryptocurrencies. It is thought to be one of the safest and simplest payment methods that may be employed in the future. The trend of banks and other financial institutions investing in cryptocurrencies has increased rapidly in recent years. Therefore, it is necessary to synthesize the findings of previous studies on cryptocurrencies. In this paper, the use of data mining methods in Bitcoin transactions is analyzed and summarized. Cryptocurrencies, similar to the well-known Bitcoin, were targeted to ensure transaction security and privacy and overcome the drawbacks of traditional banking systems as well as other centralized systems. In addition, a comprehensive analysis of the literature on the challenges and applications of electronic currencies is conducted. The evolution of digital currency from electronic cash to cryptocurrencies is summarized and the methods used to increase user privacy are highlighted. The security threats in existing cryptocurrency systems (that compromise the privacy of Bitcoin users) are also highlighted. Finally, several research gaps and trends are identified that need to be further explored.

The popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) is constantly increasing, as they use relatively greener, sustainable energy. However, it is a fact that the charging stations for EVs are yet to meet the demand. It could be a great solution if a peer-to-peer (P2P) charging system could be initiated by anyone who wants to make their garage’s charge points publicly available for commercial purposes, named a home charging station (HCS). In this work, our idea is to bring interested charging stations under a network of nodes and a blockchain-based management system, where the blockchain is responsible for ensuring the authenticity of both the charging stations and charge receiver. A cryptocurrency-based payment system has also been proposed to ensure transactions’ security, integrity, transparency, and immutability. A reputation management system is applied to maintain the quality of service. Miners with high processing power are used to alleviate lagging during block creation, supported by edge servers. The proposed system has been implemented by using virtual machines. A theoretical analysis is presented to assess the compatibility and possible cost requirements to implement the system in a real-world scenario.