Blockchain makes road tolls more secure
Global technology and consulting company Indra has added a new capability to its payment system for road tolls: the recording of transactions on a blockchain. Developed as part of the EU-funded CRITICAL-CHAINS project, this capability will increase the transparency and traceability of toll transactions. The pilot solution is being deployed on a highway in Mexico. Fraud and cyberattacks on road toll systems affect both road owners and users. For road users, they mainly come in the form of fraudulent emails claiming recipients failed to pay for using a toll road. However, road owners are impacted by a wider range of scams, including the use of counterfeit fuel and credit cards to pay tolls, hacked toll systems and the failure of concessionaires to record all toll payments. The CRITICAL-CHAINS partner is offering a solution to this problem.
Multiple benefits
To cover all parties, back office toll systems should be able to ensure transactional integrity, clearing between operators, payments to the central entity, financial auditing and fraud control. According to a news item posted on Indra’s website, incorporating blockchain into related processes and transactions “allows to reduce conflicts between the different participants due to possible disagreements, protects against possible cyber-attacks, and it also facilitates settlement and auditing tasks.” Additionally, blockchain “also reduces the problems that may arise in the management of blocked users lists due to delays in the sending of license plate and vehicle type records that have used the toll at a given time.” Using blockchain does not affect how road users make use of the system, it merely brings to attention possible mismatches in the records for further investigation. The benefits of this robust solution would be especially evident in electronic toll collection systems and in situations where there are multiple concessionaires. To validate this solution, Indra has partnered with infrastructure multinational Roadis and will be testing the technology on the Monterrey-Saltillo highway in Mexico. The work is being developed on a software-as-a-service platform where toll transactions and related settlement processes will be recorded, thus helping to increase traceability. More specifically, the CRITICAL-CHAINS project is using a decentralised blockchain business platform called Quorum, that, as the news item states, “allows different permissions to be given to different users depending on their role in the business model, so that information is not public, as is the case with other platforms.” This enables authorised participants to view and record operations and authorities to carry out the necessary audits transparently and securely. CRITICAL-CHAINS (IOT- & Blockchain-Enabled Security Framework for New Generation Critical Cyber-Physical Systems In Finance Sector) has brought together 12 partners from 8 countries and is coordinated by the University of Reading, United Kingdom. The 3-year project ends in June 2022. For more information, please see: CRITICAL-CHAINS project web page
Keywords
CRITICAL-CHAINS, road, toll, blockchain, transaction, cyberattack, fraud