Trust Management for VANETs

Abstract

An increasingly large number of cars are being equipped with GPS and Wi-Fi devices, forming vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) and enabling vehicle to vehicle communication with the goal of providing increased passenger and road safety. However, dishonest peers (vehicles) in a VANET may send out false information to maximize their own utility. Given the dire consequences of acting on false information in this context, there is a serious need to establish trust among peers. This article first discusses the challenges for trust management caused by the important characteristics of VANET environments, and identifies desired properties that effective trust management should incorporate in order to address the challenges. The author then surveys and evaluates existing trust models in VANETs, and points out that none of the trust models has achieved all the properties. Finally, the author proposes some important future directions for research towards effective trust management for VANETs.