BAZAM: A Blockchain-Assisted Zero-Trust Authentication in Multi-UAV Wireless Networks

TL;DR

BAZAM tackles secure identity authentication in dynamic multi-UAV networks by adopting a zero-trust paradigm reinforced with blockchain. It fuses PUF-based key generation, SDP-based access control, and a reputation system stored on a tamper-proof ledger to continuously verify UAV identities before resource access. The scheme is analyzed under $MBDH$/$MDBDH$ hardness assumptions and proven to achieve confidentiality, unforgeability, forward/backward secrecy, and replay-resistance, with practical performance advantages over existing approaches. This work offers a practical, traceable framework for robust UAV security in open wireless environments, with potential for broader blockchain-backed identity management in aerial networks.

Abstract

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are vulnerable to interception and attacks when operated remotely without a unified and efficient identity authentication. Meanwhile, the openness of wireless communication environments potentially leads to data leakage and system paralysis. However, conventional authentication schemes in the UAV network are system-centric, failing to adapt to the diversity of UAVs identities and access, resulting in changes in network environments and connection statuses. Additionally, UAVs are not subjected to periodic identity compliance checks once authenticated, leading to difficulties in controlling access anomalies. Therefore, in this work, we consider a zero-trust framework for UAV network authentication, aiming to achieve UAVs identity authentication through the principle of ``never trust and always verify''. We introduce a blockchain-assisted zero-trust authentication scheme, namely BAZAM, designed for multi-UAV wireless networks. In this scheme, UAVs follow a key generation approach using physical unclonable functions (PUFs), and cryptographic technique helps verify registration and access requests of UAVs. The blockchain is applied to store UAVs authentication information in immutable storage. Through thorough security analysis and extensive evaluation, we demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed BAZAM.

Figures (7)

• Figure 1: System model of BAZAM.
• Figure 2: The registration process of a UAV and an SDP controller.
• Figure 3: The UAV-SDP controller authentication process.
• Figure 4: Computation cost of different entities in various schemes (in ms).
• Figure 5: Communication cost of different entities in various schemes (in byte).