A Quantum-Resistant Lattice-Based Cryptographic Protocol for Secure Vehicle-to-Everything Communications

International Journal of Computer Science and Technology | Vol. 2, No. 1, January 2021 | pp. 1–8

Research Article

Title: A Quantum-Resistant Lattice-Based Cryptographic Protocol for Secure Vehicle-to-Everything Communications

Names of Authors: Hans Müller¹, Lukas Schmidt², and Emma Fischer³

Authors’ Affiliations:
¹Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
²Department of Information Security, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
³Institute of Computer Science, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany

Abstract: Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication networks enable real-time coordination among autonomous vehicles, roadside infrastructure, and pedestrians to optimize traffic flow and prevent collisions. Securing these safety-critical messages requires high-speed digital signatures to verify sender authenticity and message integrity within milliseconds. However, current V2X security architectures rely heavily on Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithms (ECDSA), which are vulnerable to cryptanalytic attacks by future quantum computers using Shor's algorithm. This paper proposes a quantum-resistant V2X authentication protocol based on the Ring Learning With Errors (R-LWE) hard mathematical problem. The protocol introduces an optimized lattice-based digital signature scheme tailored for the constrained computational environments of On-Board Units (OBUs) in vehicles. To accelerate execution, the Number Theoretic Transform (NTT) is utilized to optimize polynomial multiplication operations. Experimental evaluations conducted on an automotive-grade ARM Cortex-A72 processor reveal that the proposed lattice scheme verifies safety messages in 0.42 ms, well within the 2 ms real-time V2X threshold constraint. The transmission payload increases signature sizes to 1216 bytes, but remains highly manageable over dedicated short-range communications channels. The security analysis proves the scheme achieves existential unforgeability under chosen-message attacks, offering a secure transition path toward post-quantum intelligent transportation systems.

Keywords: Vehicle-to-everything, Post-quantum cryptography, Lattice-based cryptography, Ring learning with errors, Digital signatures, Automotive security

Manuscript Timeline: Received: October 12, 2020; Revised: November 15, 2020; Accepted: December 10, 2020; Published: January 3, 2021

Citation: Müller, H., Schmidt, L., & Fischer, E. (2021). A quantum-resistant lattice-based cryptographic protocol for secure vehicle-to-everything communications. International Journal of Computer Science and Technology, 2(1), 1–8. DOI: 10.46882/2021/IJCST/000013

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