Title: Privacy and security improvement in UAV network using blockchain

Authors: Hardik Sachdeva; Shivam Gupta; Anushka Misra; Khushbu Chauhan; Mayank Dave

Addresses: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, Haryana, 136118, India ' Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar, Punjab, 140001, India ' Department of Computer Science and Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, Haryana, 136118, India ' Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Sonepat (Mentor and Campus National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra), Haryana, India ' Department of Computer Science and Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, Haryana, 136118, India

Abstract: Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, have exploded in every segment present in today's business industry. They have scope in reinventing old businesses, and they are even developing new opportunities for various brands and franchisors. UAVs are used in the supply chain, maintaining surveillance and serving as mobile hotspots. Although UAVs have potential applications, they bring several societal concerns and challenges that need addressing in public safety, privacy, and cyber security. UAVs are prone to various cyber-attacks and vulnerabilities; they can also be hacked and misused by malicious entities resulting in cyber-crime. The adversaries can exploit these vulnerabilities, leading to data loss, property, and destruction of life. One can partially detect the attacks like false information dissemination, jamming, grey hole, blackhole, and GPS spoofing by monitoring the UAV behaviour, but it may not resolve privacy issues. This paper presents secure communication between UAVs using blockchain technology. Our approach involves building smart contracts and making a secure and reliable UAV ad hoc network. This network will be resilient to various network attacks and is secure against malicious intrusions.

Keywords: unmanned aerial vehicles; UAVs; blockchain; data privacy; network security; smart contract; Ethereum.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCNDS.2023.131736

International Journal of Communication Networks and Distributed Systems, 2023 Vol.29 No.4, pp.383 - 406

Received: 22 Mar 2022
Accepted: 29 May 2022
Published online: 30 Jun 2023 *

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