Digital signature-based authentication framework in Cognitive radio-Internet of Vehicles

The Internet of Vehicles (IoV) is an evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT). IoV allows real-time information-sharing of intra-vehicle, inter-vehicle and vehicle to the roadside base stations, which improves transport safety and reduces road traffic accidents. Due to the increased number of vehicles in IoV networks, the allocated spectrum bands are not sufficient for a large number of vehicles. Cognitive Radio-enabled IoV (CR-IoV) is a novel concept that mitigates the spectrum shortage problem by allowing unlicensed user access to the licensed user spectrum in convenient conditions. Due to the dynamic spectrum sharing feature of CR-IoV, a Malicious User (MU) can easily perform an attack in the network at any time. To mitigate this problem, we propose a digital signature-based authentication framework secure cooperative spectrum sensing technique for detecting the MU in the CR-IoV network. In this paper, the proposed framework ensures the integrity, authenticity, and non-repudiation of messages exchanged between vehicles and CR-enabled base stations. The framework is designed to detect and mitigate security threats such as impersonation, data tampering, and unauthorized access, which are prevalent in CR-IoV networks. Furthermore, the proposed solution addresses the Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) vulnerability by integrating cryptographic mechanisms into the cognitive radio process, ensuring secure spectrum handovers and minimizing the risk of malicious attacks during spectrum sensing and sharing. Simulation results show that the proposed digital signature-based authentication framework provides 100% correct detection and 0% mis-detection rate for both legitimate users and malicious users in the CR-IoV networks.