Using crc for sender authentication in a serial network

A method comprising:

• receiving, at a receiver node in a serial network, a packet from a sender node that includes a message identifier and a cyclical redundancy check (CRC) value;
• selecting, by the receiver node, a CRC initialization vector associated with the message identifier;
• generating, by the receiver node, a CRC value based on the selected initialization vector;
• and
• authenticating, by the receiver node, the sender node by comparing the generated CRC value to the CRC value included in the packet.

An apparatus, comprising:

• one or more network interfaces to communicate with a serial network;
• a processor coupled to the network interfaces and configured to execute one or more processes;
• and
• a memory configured to store a process executable by the processor, the process when executed configured to:
• identify a message identifier for a packet to be sent by the apparatus via the serial network;
• select a cyclical redundancy check (CRC) initialization vector associated with the message identifier;
• generate a CRC value for the packet, based on the selected initialization vector;
• and
• send the packet via the serial network, wherein the sent packet includes the message identifier and the generated CRC value, and wherein a receiver node that receives the packet uses the generated CRC value to authenticate the apparatus.