LAAP: Lightweight anonymous authentication protocol for D2D-Aided fog computing paradigm

Fog computing is a new paradigm that extends cloud computing and services to the edge of the network. Although it has several distinct characteristics, however, the conventional fog computing model does not support some of the imperative features such as D2D communications, which can be useful for several critical IoT applications and services. Besides, fog computing faces numerous new security and privacy challenges apart from those inherited from cloud computing, however, security issues in fog computing have not been addressed properly. In this article, first we introduce a new privacy-preserving security architecture for fog computing model with the cooperative D2D communication support, which can be useful for various IoT applications. Subsequently, based on the underlying foundation of our proposed security architecture we design three lightweight anonymous authentication protocols (LAAPs) to support three distinct circumstances in D2D-Aided fog computing. In this regard, we utilize the lightweight cryptographic primitives like one-way function and EXCLUSIVE-OR operations, which will cause limited computational overhead for the resource limited edge devices

Dissociation dynamics of transient anion formed via electron attachment to sulfur dioxide

We report the molecular dynamics of dissociative electron attachment to sulfur dioxide (SO2) by measuring the momentum distribution of fragment anions using the velocity slice imaging technique in the electron energy range of 2–10 eV. The S- channel results from symmetric dissociation which exhibits competition between the stretch mode and bending mode of vibration in the excited parent anion. The asymmetric dissociation of parent anions leads to the production of O- and SO- channels where the corresponding neutral fragments are formed in their ground as well as excited electronic states. We also identify that internal excitation of SO- is responsible for its low yield at higher electron energies

A review of energy storing prosthetic feet and computer aided structural optimization of a below-knee prosthesis

Because people with physical disabilities have shown an interest in participation in sports, a new class of prosthetic feet known as energy storing prosthetic feet has been developed. These new developments in prosthetic foot design utilize energy storage and return to improve ambulation. This thesis reviews the design, materials, advantages and disadvantages of various energy storing prosthetic feet. Research studies, comparing gait in below-knee amputees using different prosthetic designs, can be applied to the design of prosthetic feet that are lighter, stronger and more reliable. Comparisions among these feet are reviewed in the context of functional capability and patient satisfaction. This study indicates a significant improvement in the amputees overall function with the use of energy storing prosthetic feet compared to the conventional feet. In this thesis, a model of a below-knee prosthesis is constructed and its response to two different loading conditions studied by finite element stress analysis using the Computer Aided Engineering package of IDEAS. The main criterion in the design of a prosthesis is a balance between minimizing stress and weight, for a required level of functional capability. The effect of different geometry, material properties and loading conditions on minimizing the weight of the prosthesis and on stress distribution within the prosthesis is determined. An optimal prosthesis with minimum weight is designed for use by geriatric amputees

Privacy-aware authenticated key agreement scheme for secure smart grid communication

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are one of the underpinning platforms of smart grids, facilitating efficient grid management and operation, optimization of resource utilization, as well as enable new products, features, and services. However, this interconnection of grid technology with ICT leads to various security challenges in the power grid. One such concern is the tampering of usage data from smart meters which may result not only in incorrect billing, but also in incorrect decisions related to demand and supply management. In addition to network based cyber attacks, smart meters are also susceptible to physical attacks since they are installed in customer premises without hardware protection mechanisms. In this paper, we propose a novel privacy-aware authenticated key agreement scheme which can not only ensure secure communication between the smart meters and the service provider, but also the physical security of smart meters. In this regard, we utilize the lightweight cryptographic primitives such as Physically Uncloneable Functions (PUFs) and one-way hash function, etc. Hence, the proposed scheme is suitable even for the resource constrained smart meters

An efficient data aggregation scheme for privacy-friendly dynamic pricing-based billing and demand-response management in smart grids

Smart grids take advantage of information and communication technologies to achieve energy efficiency, automation and reliability. These systems allow two-way communications and power flow between the grid and consumers. However, these bidirectional communications introduce several security and privacy threats to consumers. One of the open challenges in this context is user privacy when smart meters are used to capture fine-grained energy usage information. Although considerable research has been carried out in this direction, most of the existing solutions invariably introduce computational complexity and overhead, which makes them infeasible for resource constrained smart meters. In this paper, we propose a privacy-friendly and efficient data aggregation scheme (EDAS) for dynamic pricing based billing and demand-response management in smart grids. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to address privacy in the context of billing under dynamic electricity pricing. Security and performance analyses show that the proposed scheme offers better privacy protection for electric meter reading aggregation and computational efficiency, as compared to existing schemes

Lightweight and privacy-friendly spatial data aggregation for secure power supply and demand management in smart grids

The concept of smart metering allows real-time measurement of power demand which in turn is expected to result in more efficient energy use and better load balancing. However, finely granular measurements reported by smart meters can lead to starkly increased exposure of sensitive information, including various personal attributes and activities. Even though several security solutions have been proposed in recent years to address this issue, most of the existing solutions are based on publickey cryptographic primitives such as homomorphic encryption, elliptic curve digital signature algorithms (ECDSA), etc. which are ill-suited for the resource constrained smart meters. On the other hand, to address the computational inefficiency issue, some masking-based solutions have been proposed. However, these schemes cannot ensure some of the imperative security properties such as consumer’s privacy, sender authentication, etc. In this paper, we first propose a lightweight and privacyfriendly masking-based spatial data aggregation scheme for secure forecasting of power demand in smart grids. Our scheme only uses lightweight cryptographic primitives such as hash functions, exclusive-OR operations, etc. Subsequently, we propose a secure billing solution for smart grids. As compared to existing solutions, our scheme is simple and can ensure better privacy protection and computational efficiency, which are essential for smart grids

Lightweight and privacy-preserving two-factor authentication scheme for IoT devices

Device authentication is an essential security feature for Internet of Things (IoT). Many IoT devices are deployed in the open and public places, which makes them vulnerable to physical and cloning attacks. Therefore, any authentication protocol designed for IoT devices should be robust even in cases when an IoT device is captured by an adversary. Moreover, many of the IoT devices have limited storage and computational capabilities. Hence, it is desirable that the security solutions for IoT devices should be computationally efficient. To address all these requirements, in this paper, we present a lightweight and privacy-preserving two-factor authentication scheme for IoT devices, where physically uncloneable functions have been considered as one of the authentication factors. Security and performance analysis show that our proposed scheme is not only robust against several attacks, but also very efficient in terms of computational efficiently

An efficient privacy-preserving authentication scheme for energy internet-based vehicle-to-grid communication

The energy Internet (EI) represents a new electric grid infrastructure that uses computing and communication to transform legacy power grids into systems that support open innovation. EI provides bidirectional communication for analysis and improvement of energy usage between service providers and customers. To ensure a secure, reliable, and efficient operation, the EI should be protected from cyber attacks. Thus, secure and efficient key establishment is an important issue for this Internet-based smart grid environment. In this paper, we propose an efficient privacy-preserving authentication scheme for EI-based vehicle-to-grid communication using lightweight cryptographic primitives such as one-way non-collision hash functions. In our proposed scheme, a customer can securely access services provided by the service provider using a symmetric key established between them. Detailed security and performance analysis of our proposed scheme are presented to show that it is resilient against many security attacks, cost effective in computation and communication, and provides an efficient solution for the EI

Signature of intermittency in hybrid UrQMD-hydro data at 10 AGeV Au+Au collisions

An attempt has been made, in the light of scaled factorial moment (SFM) analysis, to investigate hybrid UrQMD hydro generated events of Au+Au collisions at 10 AGev to realize the role of hydrodynamic evolution on observed intermittency, if any. ln values for q = 2 - 6 are found to increase with increasing values of ln M^2 indicating unambiguously the presence of intermittency in our data sample generated with both chiral and hadronic equation of states (EOS). Although various late processes like meson-meson (MM) and meson-baryon (MB) hadronic rescattering and/or resonance decays are to influence the intermittency index significantly, these processes could not be held responsible for the observed intermittency in hybrid UrQMD hydro data.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure, 1 tabl