An Approach for Decentralized Authentication in Networks of UAVs

TL;DR

This paper tackles secure, scalable authentication in networks of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by proposing a blockchain-based, decentralized PKI that stores the PKI trust graph on a public blockchain while UAVs hold only relevant subgraphs to operate offline. The approach defines account-centered blockchain transactions for node creation, certificate issuance, and revocation, along with a peer-to-peer trust model where allowable path lengths bound certificate chains and simplify validation. Key contributions include the design of a distributed trust graph, a data-partitioning scheme for UAVs, and a concrete authentication procedure that leverages blockchain-backed integrity, enabling cross-domain authentication among UAVs, cloud services, and other entities. The work lays out a path toward practical deployment within the ADACORSA project, outlining next steps for data-selection algorithms, trust-graph generation, and a proof-of-concept system to evaluate performance and security in realistic UAV networks.

Abstract

We propose a decentralized authentication system for networks of unmanned aerial vehicles. A blockchain-based public key infrastructure allows the usage of public key cryptography and public key based authentication protocols. The blockchain provides a common storage of the public keys and their relations and can provide the required information for the authentication process. Furthermore, the unmanned aerial vehicles store selected parts of the blockchain in order to operate independently in areas where they might not have access to the Internet. This allows unmanned aerial vehicles to authenticate entities of the network, like other unmanned aerial vehicles, cloud services, cars, and any computer.

Figures (1)

• Figure 1: Schematic overview of the approach.