Cybertwin-Enhanced Distributed Authentication With Lightweight Cryptography for Secure Internet of Vehicles

The rapid development of the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) has increased the demand for robust authentication protocols capable of handling vehicle-node dynamics and resisting attacks. Traditional centralized methods, which suffer from latency and single-point failure issues, cannot meet IoV's real-time requirements. Although distributed authentication improves scalability and responsiveness, existing approaches still confront challenges regarding stability and reliability in dense vehicular networks due to static trust mechanisms and inefficient cryptographic operations. To address these challenges, we propose a Cybertwin-Enabled Distributed Authentication (CEDA) scheme that leverages lightweight cryptography and Cybertwin technology to reconstruct the authentication framework featuring dynamic trust distribution and real-time behavioral analytics. Specifically, CEDA establishes virtual digital twins of vehicles to enable real-time behavior tracking and dynamic simulation, thus enabling data-driven selection of vehicle agents based on real-time behavioral similarity. This mechanism reduces dependence on centralized trusted authorities by distributing trust across a network of dynamically selected agents, thereby enhancing fault tolerance and resilience against attacks. Furthermore, CEDA integrates an Edwards-curve-based digital signature algorithm to streamline cryptographic computations, significantly reducing authentication latency while strengthening security. A dynamic agent selection mechanism based on real-time vehicle behavior similarity further ensures efficient authentication in high-density vehicular environments. Comprehensive security analysis confirms the robustness of CEDA against a wide range of potential attacks, thus safeguarding the integrity of the IoV ecosystem. Simulation results demonstrate significant improvements in authentication efficiency and system scalability, particularly in scenarios involving frequent inter-regional vehicle authentications.