Adaptive Quantum and Graph-Attentive Security Framework for DoS Attack Mitigation in VANETs

Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) are considered crucial for real-time vehicle-to-vehicle communication, which in turn enhances the efficiency of traffic and road safety. VANETs are very vulnerable to Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks, which seriously disrupt communication and degrade network performance. This paper introduces a high-performance neural network-based detection and prevention mechanism that can effectively counter DoS attacks. The proposed method is initiated with the real-time monitoring of the network. Data collection and preprocessing through the Adaptive Self-Guided Loop Filter (ASGLF) are used to filter out noise from the data. The Fast Hybrid Vision Transformer (FHVT) conducts feature extraction for network traffic to effectively preserve the spatial and temporal relationships. Using the Reflecting Equivariant Quantum Neural Network (REQNN) integrated with Heterogeneous Edge-Enhanced Graph Attention Network (HEEGAT) ensures timely anomaly detection accuracy of attacks. Subtraction-Average-Based Optimizer (SAO) optimizes the detection parameters to effectively utilize resources. The experimental results have shown accuracy in the detection of DoS attacks as 99.9% with a PDR of 99.9% and also improved throughput efficiency by 99.8%. These results validate the effectiveness of the proposed model in securing VANETs from DoS attacks, offering uninterrupted network availability and improved vehicular communication security for intelligent transportation systems.