V2V Security Course

Module 1: Introduction to Connected Vehicles (CVs) — An overview of the V2X ecosystem, examining how direct wireless communication improves safety, traffic efficiency, and vehicle coordination.

Module 2a: Spectrum and Regulation — A policy-focused review of the historic U.S. regulatory battle that shifted safety-critical 5.9 GHz spectrum from DSRC toward C-V2X.

Module 2b: Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) — A technical retrospective of classic DSRC, analyzing its design and performance limitations and subsequent next-generation improvements.

Module 3: Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) — A deep dive into cellular V2X, from LTE Sidelink to the architectural scalability and capabilities of 5G New Radio protocols.

Module 4: V2V Security — An introduction to vehicular threat vectors and trust requirements, detailing digital signatures, scalable public key infrastructures, and modern vehicle-to-vehicle authentication.

Additional instructional resource: a summary of V2V Simulators and Related Software

Lab 1 - Introduction to V2V (PDF)
How to set up an experimental environment for studying V2V security using our open-source software-defined radio testbed, V2Verifier. Configure and install V2Verifier, and run simple experiments. Estimated completion time: 60-75 minutes. 

Lab 2 - BSM Spoofing Attack (PDF)
Learn about BSM spoofing, a straightforward but dangerous attack against V2V communications. Configure and execute a BSM spoofing attack using V2Verifier, then enable IEEE 1609.2 security to observe the importance of security mechanisms like digital message signing and verification for V2V. Estimated completion time: 45-60 minutes. 

Lab 3 - BSM Replay Attack (PDF)
Investigate another serious type of attack against V2V communications, the BSM replay attack. Use the testbed to experiment with executing a BSM replay attack, then enable IEEE 1609.2 security and learn how that standard's mitigation mechanisms are designed to prevent this type of attack from being effective. Estimated completion time: 45-60 minutes. 

Lab 4 - Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) (PDF)
Dig into the details of C-V2X, an expanding V2V technology based on cellular LTE and 5G technologies. Take a close look at the physical and MAC layers of LTE-based C-V2X to learn its advantages over other generations of V2V protocols, and examine how security is (and is not) built into C-V2X standards. Optionally, study how commercial C-V2X implementations build on basic C-V2X standards with application-layer security and data exchange protocols. Estimated completion time: 60-75 minutes (75-90 minutes with optional activity).