196 research outputs found
Exploiting Channel Diversity in Secret Key Generation from Multipath Fading Randomness
We design and analyze a method to extract secret keys from the randomness
inherent to wireless channels. We study a channel model for multipath wireless
channel and exploit the channel diversity in generating secret key bits. We
compare the key extraction methods based both on entire channel state
information (CSI) and on single channel parameter such as the received signal
strength indicators (RSSI). Due to the reduction in the degree-of-freedom when
going from CSI to RSSI, the rate of key extraction based on CSI is far higher
than that based on RSSI. This suggests that exploiting channel diversity and
making CSI information available to higher layers would greatly benefit the
secret key generation. We propose a key generation system based on low-density
parity-check (LDPC) codes and describe the design and performance of two
systems: one based on binary LDPC codes and the other (useful at higher
signal-to-noise ratios) based on four-ary LDPC codes
Secure key design approaches using entropy harvesting in wireless sensor network: A survey
Physical layer based security design in wireless sensor networks have gained much importance since the past decade. The various constraints associated with such networks coupled with other factors such as their deployment mainly in remote areas, nature of communication etc. are responsible for development of research works where the focus is secured key generation, extraction, and sharing. Keeping the importance of such works in mind, this survey is undertaken that provides a vivid description of the different mechanisms adopted for securely generating the key as well its randomness extraction and also sharing. This survey work not only concentrates on the more common methods, like received signal strength based but also goes on to describe other uncommon strategies such as accelerometer based. We first discuss the three fundamental steps viz. randomness extraction, key generation and sharing and their importance in physical layer based security design. We then review existing secure key generation, extraction, and sharing mechanisms and also discuss their pros and cons. In addition, we present a comprehensive comparative study of the recent advancements in secure key generation, sharing, and randomness extraction approaches on the basis of adversary, secret bit generation rate, energy efficiency etc. Finally, the survey wraps up with some promising future research directions in this area
A Survey on Wireless Security: Technical Challenges, Recent Advances and Future Trends
This paper examines the security vulnerabilities and threats imposed by the
inherent open nature of wireless communications and to devise efficient defense
mechanisms for improving the wireless network security. We first summarize the
security requirements of wireless networks, including their authenticity,
confidentiality, integrity and availability issues. Next, a comprehensive
overview of security attacks encountered in wireless networks is presented in
view of the network protocol architecture, where the potential security threats
are discussed at each protocol layer. We also provide a survey of the existing
security protocols and algorithms that are adopted in the existing wireless
network standards, such as the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and the long-term
evolution (LTE) systems. Then, we discuss the state-of-the-art in
physical-layer security, which is an emerging technique of securing the open
communications environment against eavesdropping attacks at the physical layer.
We also introduce the family of various jamming attacks and their
counter-measures, including the constant jammer, intermittent jammer, reactive
jammer, adaptive jammer and intelligent jammer. Additionally, we discuss the
integration of physical-layer security into existing authentication and
cryptography mechanisms for further securing wireless networks. Finally, some
technical challenges which remain unresolved at the time of writing are
summarized and the future trends in wireless security are discussed.Comment: 36 pages. Accepted to Appear in Proceedings of the IEEE, 201
Low-power Secret-key Agreement over OFDM
Information-theoretic secret-key agreement is perhaps the most practically
feasible mechanism that provides unconditional security at the physical layer
to date. In this paper, we consider the problem of secret-key agreement by
sharing randomness at low power over an orthogonal frequency division
multiplexing (OFDM) link, in the presence of an eavesdropper. The low power
assumption greatly simplifies the design of the randomness sharing scheme, even
in a fading channel scenario. We assess the performance of the proposed system
in terms of secrecy key rate and show that a practical approach to key sharing
is obtained by using low-density parity check (LDPC) codes for information
reconciliation. Numerical results confirm the merits of the proposed approach
as a feasible and practical solution. Moreover, the outage formulation allows
to implement secret-key agreement even when only statistical knowledge of the
eavesdropper channel is available.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures; this is the authors prepared version of the paper
with the same name accepted for HotWiSec 2013, the Second ACM Workshop on Hot
Topics on Wireless Network Security and Privacy, Budapest, Hungary 17-19
April 201
Principles of Physical Layer Security in Multiuser Wireless Networks: A Survey
This paper provides a comprehensive review of the domain of physical layer
security in multiuser wireless networks. The essential premise of
physical-layer security is to enable the exchange of confidential messages over
a wireless medium in the presence of unauthorized eavesdroppers without relying
on higher-layer encryption. This can be achieved primarily in two ways: without
the need for a secret key by intelligently designing transmit coding
strategies, or by exploiting the wireless communication medium to develop
secret keys over public channels. The survey begins with an overview of the
foundations dating back to the pioneering work of Shannon and Wyner on
information-theoretic security. We then describe the evolution of secure
transmission strategies from point-to-point channels to multiple-antenna
systems, followed by generalizations to multiuser broadcast, multiple-access,
interference, and relay networks. Secret-key generation and establishment
protocols based on physical layer mechanisms are subsequently covered.
Approaches for secrecy based on channel coding design are then examined, along
with a description of inter-disciplinary approaches based on game theory and
stochastic geometry. The associated problem of physical-layer message
authentication is also introduced briefly. The survey concludes with
observations on potential research directions in this area.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, 303 refs. arXiv admin note: text overlap with
arXiv:1303.1609 by other authors. IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials,
201
Man-in-the-Middle Attack Resistant Secret Key Generation via Channel Randomization
Physical-layer based key generation schemes exploit the channel reciprocity
for secret key extraction, which can achieve information-theoretic secrecy
against eavesdroppers. Such methods, although practical, have been shown to be
vulnerable against man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks, where an active adversary,
Mallory, can influence and infer part of the secret key generated between Alice
and Bob by injecting her own packet upon observing highly correlated
channel/RSS measurements from Alice and Bob. As all the channels remain stable
within the channel coherence time, Mallory's injected packets cause Alice and
Bob to measure similar RSS, which allows Mallory to successfully predict the
derived key bits. To defend against such a MitM attack, we propose to utilize a
reconfigurable antenna at one of the legitimate transceivers to proactively
randomize the channel state across different channel probing rounds. The
randomization of the antenna mode at every probing round breaks the temporal
correlation of the channels from the adversary to the legitimate devices, while
preserving the reciprocity of the channel between the latter. This prevents key
injection from the adversary without affecting Alice and Bob's ability to
measure common randomness. We theoretically analyze the security of the
protocol and conduct extensive simulations and real-world experiments to
evaluate its performance. Our results show that our approach eliminates the
advantage of an active MitM attack by driving down the probability of
successfully guessing bits of the secret key to a random guess.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, 4 table
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