Computer Engineering

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Granting privacy and authentication in mobile ad hoc networks.
(2012) Balmahoon, Reevana.; Peplow, Roger Charles Samuel.
The topic of the research is granting privacy and authentication in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) that are under the authority of a certificate authority (CA) that is often not available. Privacy is implemented in the form of an anonymous identity or pseudonym, and ideally has no link to the real identity. Authentication and privacy are conflicting tenets of security as the former ensures a user's identity is always known and certified and the latter hides a user's identity. The goal was to determine if it is possible for a node to produce pseudonyms for itself that would carry the authority of the CA while being traceable by the CA, and would be completely anonymous. The first part of the dissertation places Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) into context, as this is the application of MANETs considered. This is followed by a detailed survey and analysis of the privacy aspects of VANETs. Thereafter, the solution is proposed, documented and analysed. Lastly, the dissertation is concluded and the contributions made are listed. The solution implements a novel approach for making proxies readily available to vehicles, and does indeed incorporate privacy and authentication in VANETs such that the pseudonyms produced are always authentic and traceable.