On the security of consumer wearable devices in the Internet of Things

Miniaturization of computer hardware and the demand for network capable devices has resulted in the emergence of a new class of technology called wearable computing. Wearable devices have many purposes like lifestyle support, health monitoring, fitness monitoring, entertainment, industrial uses, and gaming. Wearable devices are hurriedly being marketed in an attempt to capture an emerging market. Owing to this, some devices do not adequately address the need for security. To enable virtualization and connectivity wearable devices sense and transmit data, therefore it is essential that the device, its data and the user are protected. In this paper the use of novel Integrated Circuit Metric (ICMetric) technology for the provision of security in wearable devices has been suggested. ICMetric technology uses the features of a device to generate an identification which is then used for the provision of cryptographic services. This paper explores how a device ICMetric can be generated by using the accelerometer and gyroscope sensor. Since wearable devices often operate in a group setting the work also focuses on generating a group identification which is then used to deliver services like authentication, confidentiality, secure admission and symmetric key generation. Experiment and simulation results prove that the scheme offers high levels of security without compromising on resource demands

Icmapen: an icmetric based security framework for sleep apnea monitoring

Smart devices are becoming increasingly powerful which is why they are being used for point of care health services. Wearable devices can be purchased which allow continuous monitoring of a wearers vital signs. The data is generated, processed and stored remotely where it can be readily accessible to health professionals. Recent attacks on healthcare systems and health data shows that the systems are insecure and that security is a major hurdle in their wide adoption. Conventional cryptographic systems rely on stored keys for the provision of security. The stored keys can be captured in many ways which leads to the system being exposed. The ICMetric technology remedies this by eliminating the need for stored keys. Thus, the ICMetric technology functions as a key theft deterrent and as a basis for cryptographic services. This paper studies the design and implementation of an ICMetric based health monitoring system for people diagnosed with sleep apnea. The proposed system provides key generation, authentication and confidentiality by using the novel ICMetric technology. The proposed scheme is constituent of a cloud computing component which enables remote monitoring and data storage for access by health professionals.  This paper studies the performance of the proposed schemes by studying the running time. The security of the scheme has also been studied to show that the system provides high levels of security without resource compromise.Keywords: ICMetric; Sleep apnea; Cloud computing; Authentication; Confidentialit

Vulnerability Analysis of the MAVLink Protocol for Command and Control of Unmanned Aircraft

The MAVLink protocol is an open source, point-to-point networking protocol used to carry telemetry and to command and control many small unmanned aircraft. This research presents three exploits that compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability vulnerabilities in the communication between an unmanned aerial vehicle and a ground control station using the MAVLink protocol. The attacks assume the configuration settings for the data-link hardware have been obtained. Field experiments using MAVProxy to compromise communication between an ArduPilot Mega 2.5 autopilot and the Mission Planner application demonstrate that all three exploits are successful when MAVLink messages are unprotected. A methodology is proposed to quantify the cost of securing the MAVLink protocol through the measurement of network latency, power consumption, and exploit success. Experimental measurements indicate that the ArduPilot Mega 2.5 autopilot running the ATmega2560 processor at 16 MHz with the standard, unsecured MAVLink protocol consumes on average 0.0105 additional watts of power per second and operates with an average additional latency of 0.11 seconds while under the most resource-intensive attack than when not under attack

An enhanced Blowfish Algorithm based on cylindrical coordinate system and dynamic permutation box

The Blowfish Algorithm (BA) is a symmetric block cipher that uses Feistel network to iterate simple encryption and decryption functions. BA key varies from 32 to 448 bits to ensure a high level of security. However, the substitution box (S-Box) in BA occupies a high percentage of memory and has problems in security, specifically in randomness of output with text and image files that have large strings of identical bytes. Thus, the objective of this research is to enhance the BA to overcome these problems. The research involved three phases, algorithm design, implementation, and evaluation. In the design phase, a dynamic 3D S-Box, a dynamic permutation box (P-Box), and a Feistal Function (F-Function) were improved. The improvement involved integrating Cylindrical Coordinate System (CCS) and dynamic P-Box. The enhanced BA is known as Ramlan Ashwak Faudziah (RAF) algorithm. The implementation phase involved performing key expansion, data encryption, and data decryption. The evaluation phase involved measuring the algorithm in terms of memory and security. In terms of memory, the results showed that the RAF occupied 256 bytes, which is less than the BA (4096 bytes). In terms of randomness of text and image files that have large strings of identical bytes, the average rate of randomness for 188 statistical tests obtained values of more than 96%. This means that the RAF has high randomness indicating that it is more secured. Thus, the results showed that the RAF algorithm that integrates the CCS and dynamic P-Box serves as an effective approach that can consume less memory and strengthen security

THE HARDWARE PERFORMANCE OF AUTHENTICATED ENCRYPTION MODES

Abstract Authenticated encryption has long been a vital operation in cryptography by its ability to provide confidentiality, integrity and authenticity at the same time. Its use has progressed in parallel with the worldwide use of Internet Protocol (IP), which has led to development of several new schemes as well as improved versions of existing ones. There have already been studies investigating software performance of various schemes. However, performance of authenticated encryption schemes on hardware has been left as an open question. We study the comprehensive evaluation of hardware performance of the most commonly used authenticated encryption modes CCM, GCM, OCB3 and EAX. These modes are block cipher based with additional authentication data (AAD). In order to make our evaluation fair, we have implemented each scheme with AES block cipher algorithm. In our evaluation, we targeted ASIC platforms and used 45 nm generic NANGATE Open Cell Library for syntheses. In each design, we have targeted minimizing the time-area product while maximizing the throughput. In the results, area, speed, time-area product, throughput, and power figures are presented for each scheme. Finally, we provide an unbiased discussion on the impact of the structure and complexity of each scheme on hardware implementation, together with recommendations on hardware-friendly authenticated encryption scheme design

Security In Wireless Sensor Networks Based On Lightweight Algorithms : An Effective Survey

At the level of both individuals and companies, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) get a wide range of applications and uses. Sensors are used in a wide range of industries, including agriculture, transportation, health, and many more. Many technologies, such as wireless communication protocols, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, mobile computing, and other emerging technologies, are connected to the usage of sensors. In many circumstances, this contact necessitates the transmission of crucial data, necessitating the need to protect that data from potential threats. However, as the WSN components often have constrained computation and power capabilities, protecting the communication in WSNs comes at a significant performance penalty. Due to the massive calculations required by conventional public-key and secret encryption methods, information security in this limited context calls for light encryption techniques. In many applications involving sensor networks, security is a crucial concern. On the basis of traditional cryptography, a number of security procedures are created for wireless sensor networks. Some symmetric-key encryption techniques used in sensor network setups include AES, RC5, SkipJack, and XXTEA. These algorithms do, however, have several flaws of their own, including being susceptible to chosen-plaintext assault, brute force attack, and computational complexity

An ICMetric based multiparty communication framework

Cryptographic algorithms have always relied on stored keys for the provision of security services. Since these keys are stored on a system this makes them prone to attack. Efforts to increase the key size makes brute forcing difficult but does not eliminate key theft. This thesis proposes a comprehensive security framework for groups of devices. The research makes four major contributions to improve the security of devices in the multiparty environment. The proposed framework uses the novel Integrated Circuit Metric (ICMetric) technology which proposes utilizing measurable properties and features of a device to create a device identification. This device identification called the ICMetric is used to create cryptographic keys which are then used in the designed cryptosystems. The first contribution of the thesis is the creation of an ICMetric using sensors found in modern smart devices. The research explores both explicit and implicit features which can be used to generate of an ICMetric. The second contribution of this research is the creation of a group ICMetric which is computed using the device ICMetric. The computation of the device ICMetric is a particular challenge as it has to be computed without violating the properties of the ICMetric technology. The third contribution is the demonstration that an ICMetric can be used for the creation of symmetric key. The fourth contribution of this research is an efficient RSA based asymmetric key generation scheme for the multiparty environment. Designing a system using widely accepted cryptographic primitives does not guarantee a secure system therefore the security of proposed schemes has been studied under the standard model. The schemes presented in this thesis attempt to improve the security of devices in the group environment. The schemes demonstrate that key theft deterrent technologies can be incorporated into cryptographic schemes to offer higher levels of security and privacy

Attacks in Stream Ciphers: A Survey

Nowadays there are different types of attacks in block and stream ciphers. In this work we will present some of the most used attacks on stream ciphers. We will present the newest techniques with an example of usage in a cipher, explain and comment. Previous we will explain the difference between the block ciphers and stream ciphers

Badger - A Fast and Provably Secure MAC

We present Badger, a new fast and provably secure MAC based on universal hashing. In the construction, a modified tree hash that is more efficient than standard tree hash is used and its security is being proven. Furthermore, in order to derive the core hash function of the tree, we use a novel technique for reducing $\Delta$-universal function families to universal families. The resulting MAC is very efficient on standard platforms both for short and long messages. As an example, for a $64$-bit tag, it achieves performances up to 2.2 and 1.2 clock cycles per byte on a Pentium III and Pentium 4 processor, respectively. The forgery probability is at most $2^{-52.2}$