Security of distance-bounding: A survey

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI linkDistance-bounding protocols allow a verifier to both authenticate a prover and evaluate whether the latter is located in his vicinity. These protocols are of particular interest in contactless systems, e.g., electronic payment or access control systems, which are vulnerable to distance-based frauds. This survey analyzes and compares in a unified manner many existing distance-bounding protocols with respect to several key security and complexity features

SecNav: Secure broadcast localization and time synchronization in wireless networks

We propose SecNav, a new protocol for securing wireless navigation systems. This protocol secures localization and time-synchronization in wireless networks by relying on devices ’ awareness of presence in the power-range (coverage area) of navigation stations. We perform a detailed security analysis of SecNav and show that, compared to existing secure navigation approaches, it prevents the widest range of attacks on navigation. Our implementation of SecNav, using 802.11b devices, shows that this scheme can be efficiently implemented with existing technologies.

On the Security of Password Manager Database Formats

Password managers are critical pieces of software relied upon by users to securely store valuable and sensitive information, from online banking passwords and login credentials to passport- and social security numbers. Surprisingly, there has been very little academic research on the security these applications provide. This paper presents the first rigorous analysis of storage formats used by popular password managers. We define two realistic security models, designed to represent the capabilities of real-world adversaries. We then show how specific vulnerabilities in our models allow an adversary to implement practical attacks. Our analysis shows that most password manager database formats are broken even against weak adversaries

Implications of Radio Fingerprinting on the Security of Sensor Networks

We demonstrate the feasibility of fingerprinting the radio of wireless sensor nodes (Chipcon 1000 radio, 433MHz). We show that, with this type of devices, a receiver can create device radio fingerprints and subsequently identify origins of messages exchanged between the devices, even if message contents and device identifiers are hidden. We further analyze the implications of device fingerprinting on the security of sensor networking protocols, specifically, we propose two new mechanisms for the detection of wormholes in sensor networks

Realization of RF Distance Bounding

One of the main obstacles for the wider deployment of radio (RF) distance bounding is the lack of platforms that implement these protocols. We address this problem and we build a prototype system that demonstratesthatradiodistanceboundingprotocols can be implemented to match the strict processing thattheseprotocolsrequire. Oursystemimplements a proverthat is able to receive, process and transmit signals in less than 1ns. The security guaranteethat adistancebounding protocolbuilt ontop ofthis systemthereforeprovidesisthatamaliciousprovercan, at most, pretend to be about 15cm closer to the verifier than it really is. To enable such fast processing at the prover, we use specially implemented concatenation as the prover’s processing function and show how it can be integrated into a distance bounding protocol. Finally, we show that functions such as XORandthecomparisonfunction, thatwereusedin a number of previously proposed distance bounding protocols,arenot bestsuited forthe implementation of radio distance bounding.

Location Privacy of Distance Bounding Protocols

Distance bounding protocols have been proposed for many security critical applications as a means of getting an upper bound on the physical distance to a communication partner. As such, distance bounding protocols are executed frequently, e.g., to keep node locations up to date, etc. We analyze distance bounding protocols in terms of their location privacy and we show that they leak information about the location and distance between communicating partners even to passive attackers. This location and distance information may be highly sensitive since it can form the basis for access control, key establishment, or be used as input to location aware applications. We analyze, in a number of scenarios, how much information distance bounding protocols leak. We further discuss several straightforward countermeasures and show why they do not provide adequate protection against distance leakage. Finally, we propose a location private distance bounding protocol that maintains the properties of existing distance bounding protocols while leaking no information about the distance measured between the communicating parties

Location Privacy of Distance Bounding Protocols

Distance bounding protocols have been proposed for many security critical applications as a means of getting an upper bound on the physical distance to a communication partner. As such, distance bounding protocols are executed frequently, e.g., to keep node locations up to date, etc. We analyze distance bounding protocols in terms of their location privacy and we show that they leak information about the location and distance between communicating partners even to passive attackers. This location and distance information may be highly sensitive since it can form the basis for access control, key establishment, or be used as input to location aware applications. We analyze, in a number of scenarios, how much information distance bounding protocols leak. We further discuss several straightforward countermeasures and show why they do not provide adequate protection against distance leakage. Finally, we propose a location private distance bounding protocol that maintains the properties of existing distance bounding protocols while leaking no information about the distance measured between the communicating parties