### Cyber Attack Scenarios in VANET  
Security in VANETs is profoundly influenced by a spectrum of attacks that can significantly impede the performance of various routing protocols [21; 22; 23]. These attacks encompass diverse categories and are pivotal to elucidating fundamental forms of routing attacks, as delineated in Figure 3. In a compromised vehicle scenario, malicious nodes exploit vulnerabilities by initiating pollution, impersonation, and denial of service (DoS) attacks. The compromised vehicle emits fake messages to nearby vehicles, introducing pollution attacks that manipulate environmental data. Impersonation attacks involve the malicious node posing as a trusted entity, deceiving neighbouring vehicles with falsified information.  
Additionally, the compromised vehicle executes DoS attacks, overwhelming the communication channels of nearby nodes to disrupt their normal functioning. These orchestrated attacks compromise the integrity of the vehicular network, jeopardizing communication, trust, and overall system reliability. Effective cybersecurity measures are crucial to mitigate such threats and ensure the secure operation of connected vehicles. First, we categorize these attacks into two primary forms: active and passive. In an active attack, the malevolent actor intercepts network data and manipulates the message's content. This results in the intended recipient receiving a message that has been tampered with. The motives behind active attacks are often centered around undermining network efficiency or exploiting potential vulnerabilities to gain unauthorized access to provide illicit services. This transpires through eavesdropping on wireless networks, data collection, or the probing of possible network weak points. On the contrary, passive attacks manifest when an assailant abstains from sending or receiving network messages directly. The attacker's role is observatory and data collection rather than active interference [24].  
Conversely, the rational attacker attacks to gather intelligence and harm the network. The attacks are further distinguished by their scope, with local and extended attacks forming a dichotomy. Local attackers initiate assaults confined to a limited geographical area, typically affecting specific RSUs and nodes. In contrast, extended attackers extend their impact over a broader expanse, intending to degrade network efficiency or render it completely non-functional. In the context of this research, the focus is on routing attacks in VANETs. There are precisely five distinctive types of routing attacks: a denial of service (DoS) attack overwhelms a system, making it unavailable to users by flooding it with excessive traffic, disrupting standard functionality. A black hole attack shows malicious nodes in a network drop or absorbs incoming data, rendering the affected paths unusable and disrupting communication. A gray hole attack is an attack in which a compromised node selectively drops or modifies data packets, causing inconsistencies in communication while maintaining some level of standard functionality. An illusion attack fakes the presence of non-existent nodes or services, deceiving neighboring nodes regarding the network topology and leading to misrouting of data. A sinkhole attack occurs when network traffic is diverted to a malicious node, allowing the attacker to intercept and manipulate the data flow and compromise communication integrity [25]. These attacks pose significant challenges to the integrity and security of data transmission within VANETs.