Denial-of-Service Resistance in Key Establishment

Denial of Service (DoS) attacks are an increasing problem for network connected systems. Key establishment protocols are applications that are particularly vulnerable to DoS attack as they are typically required to perform computationally expensive cryptographic operations in order to authenticate the protocol initiator and to generate the cryptographic keying material that will subsequently be used to secure the communications between initiator and responder. The goal of DoS resistance in key establishment protocols is to ensure that attackers cannot prevent a legitimate initiator and responder deriving cryptographic keys without expending resources beyond a responder-determined threshold. In this work we review the strategies and techniques used to improve resistance to DoS attacks. Three key establishment protocols implementing DoS resistance techniques are critically reviewed and the impact of misapplication of the techniques on DoS resistance is discussed. Recommendations on effectively applying resistance techniques to key establishment protocols are made

FRAMEWORK FOR ANONYMIZED COVERT COMMUNICATIONS: A BLOCKCHAIN-BASED PROOF-OF-CONCEPT

In this dissertation, we present an information hiding approach incorporating anonymity that builds on existing classical steganographic models. Current security definitions are not sufficient to analyze the proposed information hiding approach as steganography offers data privacy by hiding the existence of data, a property that is distinct from confidentiality (data existence is known but access is restricted) and authenticity (data existence is known but manipulation is restricted). Combinations of the latter two properties are common in analyses, such as Authenticated Encryption with Associated Data (AEAD), yet there is a lack of research on combinations with steganography. This dissertation also introduces the security definition of Authenticated Stegotext with Associated Data (ASAD), which captures steganographic properties even when there is contextual information provided alongside the hidden data. We develop a hierarchical framework of ASAD variants, corresponding to different channel demands. We present a real-world steganographic embedding scheme, Authenticated SteGotex with Associated tRansaction Data (ASGARD), that leverages a blockchain-based application as a medium for sending hidden data. We analyze ASGARD in our framework and show that it meets Level-4 ASAD security. Finally, we implement ASGARD on the Ethereum platform as a proof-of-concept and analyze some of the ways an adversary might detect our embedding activity by analyzing historical Ethereum data.Lieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

A Registration Scheme to Allocate a Unique Identification Number

Identification is always a necessity of human life. Currently, our government has decided to allocate a unique identity to every Indian. This paper proposed a registration scheme, in which a controlling agency can generate a unique identification number in such a way that registration number cannot be forged and misused. In the proposed scheme, only the number holder can use his number and he/she can prove its validity to any third party, whenever necessary

An efficient ID- based directed signature scheme from bilinear pairings

A directed signature scheme allows a designated verifier to directly verify a signature issued to him, and a third party to check the signature validity with the help of the signer or the designated verifier as well. Directed signatures are applicable where the signed message is sensitive to the signature receiver. Due to its merits, directed signature schemes are suitable for applications such as bill of tax and bill of health. In this paper, we proposed an efficient identity based directed signature scheme from bilinear pairings. Our scheme is efficient than the existing directed signature schemes. In the random oracle model, our scheme is unforgeable under the Computational Diffie-Hellman (CDH) assumption, and invisible under the Decisional Bilinear Diffie-Hellman (DBDH)

How to tell if your cloud files are vulnerable to drive crashes

This paper presents a new challenge--verifying that a remote server is storing a file in a fault-tolerant manner, i.e., such that it can survive hard-drive failures. We describe an approach called the Remote Assessment of Fault Tolerance (RAFT). The key technique in a RAFT is to measure the time taken for a server to respond to a read request for a collection of file blocks. The larger the number of hard drives across which a file is distributed, the faster the read-request response. Erasure codes also play an important role in our solution. We describe a theoretical framework for RAFTs and offer experimental evidence that RAFTs can work in practice in several settings of interest