{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,29]],"date-time":"2025-10-29T03:54:03Z","timestamp":1761710043773,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":12,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,14]],"date-time":"2023-11-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1699920000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Computers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Vehicle area networks (VANs) encompass a spectrum of communication modes, including point-to-point visible light communication, 5G\/6G cellular wireless communication, and Wi-Fi ad hoc multihop communication. The main focus of this paper is the introduction and application of physically unclonable functions (PUFs) as a pivotal element in secure key generation, authentication processes, and trust metric definition for neighboring vehicles. The multifaceted protocols proposed herein encompass comprehensive security considerations, ranging from authentication and anonymity to the imperative aspects of the proof of presence, freshness, and ephemeral session key exchanges. This paper provides a systematic and comprehensive framework for enhancing security in VANs, which is of paramount importance in the context of modern smart transportation systems. The contributions of this work are multifarious and can be summarized as follows: (1) Presenting an innovative and robust approach to secure key generation based on PUFs, ensuring the dynamic nature of the authentication. (2) Defining trust metrics reliant on PUFs to ascertain the authenticity and integrity of proximate vehicles. (3) Using the proposed framework to enable seamless transitions between different communication protocols, such as the migration from 5G\/6G to Wi-Fi, by introducing the concept of multimodal authentication, which accommodates a wide spectrum of vehicle capabilities. Furthermore, upholding privacy through the encryption and concealment of PUF responses safeguards the identity of vehicles during communication.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/computers12110233","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,14]],"date-time":"2023-11-14T09:12:39Z","timestamp":1699953159000},"page":"233","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["PUFGuard: Vehicle-to-Everything Authentication Protocol for Secure Multihop Mobile Communication"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5189-3409","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fayez","family":"Gebali","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 3P6, Canada"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2366-2061","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohamed K.","family":"Elhadad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer Engineering and Artificial Intelligence, The Military Technical College, Cairo 11766, Egypt"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100","DOI":"10.1016\/j.iot.2020.100158","article-title":"Secure remote anonymous user authentication scheme for smart home environment","volume":"9","author":"Fakroon","year":"2020","journal-title":"Internet Things"},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"1","article-title":"Multifactor authentication scheme using physically unclonable functions","volume":"9","author":"Fakroon","year":"2021","journal-title":"Internet Things"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10585","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2021.3075959","article-title":"Trust Based Secure and Energy Efficient Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks","volume":"10","author":"Hu","year":"2022","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Badetia, N., and Hussain, M. (2017, January 7\u20139). Distributed Mechanism For Authentication of Nodes In Wireless Sensor Networks. Proceedings of the International Conference for Convergence in Technology (I2CT), Mumbai, India.","DOI":"10.1109\/I2CT.2017.8226173"},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"10","article-title":"Secure sensor node authentication in wireless sensor networks","volume":"46","author":"Akhtar","year":"2012","journal-title":"Int. J. Comput. Appl."},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"Tuylis, P. (2023, October 01). Securing the New Chiplet Era of Semiconductor Design. Available online: https:\/\/www.designing-electronics.com\/securing-the-new-chiplet-era-of-semiconductor-design-2\/."},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"The White House (2023, October 01). Cybersecurity Labeling Program for Smart Devices, Available online: https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2023\/07\/18\/biden-harris-administration-announces-cybersecurity-labeling-program-for-smart-devices-to-protect-american-consumers\/."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Khatoun, R. (2022). Cybersecurity in Smart Homes: Architectures, Solutions and Technologies, Wiley-iSTE."},{"key":"ref_9","unstructured":"Gebali, F. (2023, January 29\u201331). IoT Hardware Security: Using Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs) for Authentication and Secure Key Exchange. Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference of the Military Technical College (ICEENG), Cairo, Egypt."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cui, Y., Wang, C., Liu, W., Yu, Y., O\u2019Neill, M., and Lombardi, F. (2016, January 22\u201325). Low-Cost Configurable Ring Oscillator PUF with Improved Uniqueness. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Circucits and Systems (ISCAS), Montreal, QC, Canada.","DOI":"10.1109\/ISCAS.2016.7527301"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1077","DOI":"10.1002\/cpe.805","article-title":"Identification and authentication of integrated circuits","volume":"6","author":"Gassend","year":"2004","journal-title":"Concurr. Comput. Pract. Exp."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tuyls, P., Skoric, B., and Kevenaar, T. (2007). Security with Noisy Data, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-84628-984-2"}],"container-title":["Computers"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-431X\/12\/11\/233\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T21:22:44Z","timestamp":1760131364000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-431X\/12\/11\/233"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,14]]},"references-count":12,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,11]]}},"alternative-id":["computers12110233"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/computers12110233","relation":{},"ISSN":["2073-431X"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2073-431X"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,11,14]]}}}