Online at Will: A Novel Protocol for Mutual Authentication in Peer-to-Peer Networks for Patient-Centered Health Care Information Systems

Patient-centered health care information systems (PHSs) on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks promise decentralization benefits. P2P PHSs, such as decentralized personal health records or interoperable Covid-19 proximity trackers, can enhance data sovereignty and resilience to single points of failure, but the openness of P2P networks introduces new security issues. We propose a novel, simple, and secure mutual authentication protocol that supports offline access, leverages independent and stateless encryption services, and enables patients and medical professionals to establish secure connections when using P2P PHSs. Our protocol includes a virtual smart card (software-based) feature to ease integration of authentication features of emerging national health-IT infrastructures. The security evaluation shows that our protocol resists most online and offline threats while exhibiting performance comparable to traditional, albeit less secure, password-based authentication methods. Our protocol serves as foundation for the design and implementation of P2P PHSs that will make use of P2P PHSs more secure and trustworthy

Network layer access control for context-aware IPv6 applications

As part of the Lancaster GUIDE II project, we have developed a novel wireless access point protocol designed to support the development of next generation mobile context-aware applications in our local environs. Once deployed, this architecture will allow ordinary citizens secure, accountable and convenient access to a set of tailored applications including location, multimedia and context based services, and the public Internet. Our architecture utilises packet marking and network level packet filtering techniques within a modified Mobile IPv6 protocol stack to perform access control over a range of wireless network technologies. In this paper, we describe the rationale for, and components of, our architecture and contrast our approach with other state-of-the- art systems. The paper also contains details of our current implementation work, including preliminary performance measurements

A novel approach to quality-of-service provisioning in trusted relay Quantum Key Distribution networks

In recent years, noticeable progress has been made in the development of quantum equipment, reflected through the number of successful demonstrations of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology. Although they showcase the great achievements of QKD, many practical difficulties still need to be resolved. Inspired by the significant similarity between mobile ad-hoc networks and QKD technology, we propose a novel quality of service (QoS) model including new metrics for determining the states of public and quantum channels as well as a comprehensive metric of the QKD link. We also propose a novel routing protocol to achieve high-level scalability and minimize consumption of cryptographic keys. Given the limited mobility of nodes in QKD networks, our routing protocol uses the geographical distance and calculated link states to determine the optimal route. It also benefits from a caching mechanism and detection of returning loops to provide effective forwarding while minimizing key consumption and achieving the desired utilization of network links. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the validity and accuracy of the proposed solutions.Web of Science28118116