MUSeS: Mobile User Secured Session

International audienceMobility and security are very important services for both current and future network infrastructures. However, the integration of mobility in traditional virtual private networks is difficult due to the costs of re-establishing broken secure tunnels and restarting broken application connections. In order to address this issue, we propose a new communication system called Mobile User Secured Session. Based upon a peer-to-peer overlay network, it provides security services to the application layer connections of mobile users. The secure and resilient sessions allow user connections to survive network failures as opposed to regular transport layer secured connections. We have implemented a prototype and have assessed its proper functioning by running experimentations upon a simple virtual dynamic network

Definition of a security and mobility infrastructure for peer-to-peer overlay networks

La sécurisation inhérente aux échanges dans les environnements dynamiques et distribués, dépourvus d’une coordination centrale et dont la topologie change perpétuellement, est un défi majeur. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, on se propose en effet de définir une infrastructure de sécurité adaptée aux contraintes des systèmes P2P actuels. Le premier volet de nos travaux consiste à proposer un intergiciel, appelé SEMOS, qui gère des sessions sécurisées et mobiles. SEMOS permet en effet de maintenir les sessions sécurisées actives et ce, même lorsque la configuration réseau change ou un dysfonctionnement se produit. Cette faculté d’itinérance est rendue possible par la définition d’un nouveau mécanisme de découplage afin de cloisonner l’espace d’adressage de l’espace de nommage ; le nouvel espace de nommage repose alors sur les tables de hachage distribuées (DHT). Le deuxième volet définit un mécanisme distribué et générique d’échange de clés adapté à l’architecture P2P. Basé sur les chemins disjoints et l’échange de bout en bout, le procédé de gestion des clés proposé est constitué d’une combinaison du protocole Diffie-Hellman et du schéma à seuil(k, n) de Shamir. D’une part, l’utilisation des chemins disjoints dans le routage des sous-clés compense l’absence de l’authentification certifiée, par une tierce partie, consubstantielle au protocole Diffie-Hellman et réduit, dans la foulée, sa vulnérabilité aux attaques par interception. D’autre part, l’extension de l’algorithme Diffie-Hellman par ajout du schéma à seuil (k, n) renforce substantiellement sa robustesse notamment dans la segmentation des clés et/ou en cas de défaillances accidentelles ou délibérées dans le routage des sous-clés. Enfin, les sessions sécurisées mobiles sont évaluées dans un réseau virtuel et mobile et la gestion des clés est simulée dans un environnement générant des topologies P2P aléatoires.Securing communications in distributed dynamic environments, that lack a central coordination point and whose topology changes constantly, is a major challenge.We tackle this challenge of today’s P2P systems. In this thesis, we propose to define a security infrastructure that is suitable to the constraints and issues of P2P systems. The first part of this document presents the design of SEMOS, our middleware solution for managing and securing mobile sessions. SEMOS ensures that communication sessions are secure and remain active despite the possible disconnections that can occur when network configurations change or a malfunction arises. This roaming capability is implemented via the definition of a new addressing space in order to split up addresses for network entities with their names ; the new naming space is then based on distributed hash tables(DHT). The second part of the document presents a generic and distributed mechanism for a key exchange method befitting to P2P architectures. Building on disjoint paths andend-to-end exchange, the proposed key management protocol consists of a combination of the Diffie-Hellman algorithm and the Shamir’s (k, n) threshold scheme. On the onehand, the use of disjoint paths to route subkeys offsets the absence of the third party’s certified consubstantial to Diffie-Hellman and reduces, at the same time, its vulnerability to interception attacks. On the other hand, the extension of the Diffie-Hellman algorithm by adding the threshold (k, n) scheme substantially increases its robustness, in particular in key splitting and / or in the case of accidental or intentional subkeys routing failures. Finally, we rely on a virtual mobile network to assess the setup of secure mobile sessions.The key management mechanism is then evaluated in an environment with randomly generated P2P topologies

Definition of a security and mobility infrastructure for peer-to-peer overlay networks

La sécurisation inhérente aux échanges dans les environnements dynamiques et distribués, dépourvus d’une coordination centrale et dont la topologie change perpétuellement, est un défi majeur. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, on se propose en effet de définir une infrastructure de sécurité adaptée aux contraintes des systèmes P2P actuels. Le premier volet de nos travaux consiste à proposer un intergiciel, appelé SEMOS, qui gère des sessions sécurisées et mobiles. SEMOS permet en effet de maintenir les sessions sécurisées actives et ce, même lorsque la configuration réseau change ou un dysfonctionnement se produit. Cette faculté d’itinérance est rendue possible par la définition d’un nouveau mécanisme de découplage afin de cloisonner l’espace d’adressage de l’espace de nommage ; le nouvel espace de nommage repose alors sur les tables de hachage distribuées (DHT). Le deuxième volet définit un mécanisme distribué et générique d’échange de clés adapté à l’architecture P2P. Basé sur les chemins disjoints et l’échange de bout en bout, le procédé de gestion des clés proposé est constitué d’une combinaison du protocole Diffie-Hellman et du schéma à seuil(k, n) de Shamir. D’une part, l’utilisation des chemins disjoints dans le routage des sous-clés compense l’absence de l’authentification certifiée, par une tierce partie, consubstantielle au protocole Diffie-Hellman et réduit, dans la foulée, sa vulnérabilité aux attaques par interception. D’autre part, l’extension de l’algorithme Diffie-Hellman par ajout du schéma à seuil (k, n) renforce substantiellement sa robustesse notamment dans la segmentation des clés et/ou en cas de défaillances accidentelles ou délibérées dans le routage des sous-clés. Enfin, les sessions sécurisées mobiles sont évaluées dans un réseau virtuel et mobile et la gestion des clés est simulée dans un environnement générant des topologies P2P aléatoires.Securing communications in distributed dynamic environments, that lack a central coordination point and whose topology changes constantly, is a major challenge.We tackle this challenge of today’s P2P systems. In this thesis, we propose to define a security infrastructure that is suitable to the constraints and issues of P2P systems. The first part of this document presents the design of SEMOS, our middleware solution for managing and securing mobile sessions. SEMOS ensures that communication sessions are secure and remain active despite the possible disconnections that can occur when network configurations change or a malfunction arises. This roaming capability is implemented via the definition of a new addressing space in order to split up addresses for network entities with their names ; the new naming space is then based on distributed hash tables(DHT). The second part of the document presents a generic and distributed mechanism for a key exchange method befitting to P2P architectures. Building on disjoint paths andend-to-end exchange, the proposed key management protocol consists of a combination of the Diffie-Hellman algorithm and the Shamir’s (k, n) threshold scheme. On the onehand, the use of disjoint paths to route subkeys offsets the absence of the third party’s certified consubstantial to Diffie-Hellman and reduces, at the same time, its vulnerability to interception attacks. On the other hand, the extension of the Diffie-Hellman algorithm by adding the threshold (k, n) scheme substantially increases its robustness, in particular in key splitting and / or in the case of accidental or intentional subkeys routing failures. Finally, we rely on a virtual mobile network to assess the setup of secure mobile sessions.The key management mechanism is then evaluated in an environment with randomly generated P2P topologies

Définition d'une infrastructure de sécurité et de mobilité pour les réseaux pair-à-pair recouvrants

Securing communications in distributed dynamic environments, that lack a central coordination point and whose topology changes constantly, is a major challenge.We tackle this challenge of today’s P2P systems. In this thesis, we propose to define a security infrastructure that is suitable to the constraints and issues of P2P systems. The first part of this document presents the design of SEMOS, our middleware solution for managing and securing mobile sessions. SEMOS ensures that communication sessions are secure and remain active despite the possible disconnections that can occur when network configurations change or a malfunction arises. This roaming capability is implemented via the definition of a new addressing space in order to split up addresses for network entities with their names ; the new naming space is then based on distributed hash tables(DHT). The second part of the document presents a generic and distributed mechanism for a key exchange method befitting to P2P architectures. Building on disjoint paths andend-to-end exchange, the proposed key management protocol consists of a combination of the Diffie-Hellman algorithm and the Shamir’s (k, n) threshold scheme. On the onehand, the use of disjoint paths to route subkeys offsets the absence of the third party’s certified consubstantial to Diffie-Hellman and reduces, at the same time, its vulnerability to interception attacks. On the other hand, the extension of the Diffie-Hellman algorithm by adding the threshold (k, n) scheme substantially increases its robustness, in particular in key splitting and / or in the case of accidental or intentional subkeys routing failures. Finally, we rely on a virtual mobile network to assess the setup of secure mobile sessions.The key management mechanism is then evaluated in an environment with randomly generated P2P topologies.La sécurisation inhérente aux échanges dans les environnements dynamiques et distribués, dépourvus d’une coordination centrale et dont la topologie change perpétuellement, est un défi majeur. Dans le cadre de cette thèse, on se propose en effet de définir une infrastructure de sécurité adaptée aux contraintes des systèmes P2P actuels. Le premier volet de nos travaux consiste à proposer un intergiciel, appelé SEMOS, qui gère des sessions sécurisées et mobiles. SEMOS permet en effet de maintenir les sessions sécurisées actives et ce, même lorsque la configuration réseau change ou un dysfonctionnement se produit. Cette faculté d’itinérance est rendue possible par la définition d’un nouveau mécanisme de découplage afin de cloisonner l’espace d’adressage de l’espace de nommage ; le nouvel espace de nommage repose alors sur les tables de hachage distribuées (DHT). Le deuxième volet définit un mécanisme distribué et générique d’échange de clés adapté à l’architecture P2P. Basé sur les chemins disjoints et l’échange de bout en bout, le procédé de gestion des clés proposé est constitué d’une combinaison du protocole Diffie-Hellman et du schéma à seuil(k, n) de Shamir. D’une part, l’utilisation des chemins disjoints dans le routage des sous-clés compense l’absence de l’authentification certifiée, par une tierce partie, consubstantielle au protocole Diffie-Hellman et réduit, dans la foulée, sa vulnérabilité aux attaques par interception. D’autre part, l’extension de l’algorithme Diffie-Hellman par ajout du schéma à seuil (k, n) renforce substantiellement sa robustesse notamment dans la segmentation des clés et/ou en cas de défaillances accidentelles ou délibérées dans le routage des sous-clés. Enfin, les sessions sécurisées mobiles sont évaluées dans un réseau virtuel et mobile et la gestion des clés est simulée dans un environnement générant des topologies P2P aléatoires

A Survey on Secure and Resilient Session Schemes: Technical Comparison and Assessment

International audienceCyber threats become more and more pervasive on the Internet and on distributed/decentralized systems. In order to secure communication over these infrastructures and respond to mobility constraint, a new class of Virtual Private Networks (VPN), which support both security and mobility, has emerged in the course of last years. Mobile Virtual Private Networks, called mobile VPN, provide not only secure tunnels but also session continuity mechanism despite location change or connection disruptions. This mechanism enables secure sessions to survive in dynamic/mobile environments without requiring a renegotiation of security keys during the session resumption phase. In this paper, on the one hand, we survey the recent literature on the mobile VPN systems followed by a detailed analysis and a technical comparison in tabulated form of existing technologies. On the other hand, we carry out experiments on open source mobile VPN infrastructures. We subsequently outline and discuss major features and performances of various assessed mobile VPN infrastructures

End-to-End Key Exchange through Disjoint Paths in P2P Networks

International audienceDue to their inherent features, P2P networks have proven to be effective in the exchange of data between autonomous peers. Unfortunately, these networks are subject to various security threats that cannot be addressed readily since traditional security infrastructures, which are centralized, cannot be applied to them. Furthermore, communication reliability across the Internet is threatened by various attacks, including usurpation of identity, eavesdropping or traffic modification. Thus, in order to overcome these security issues and allow peers to securely exchange data, we propose a new key management scheme over P2P networks. Our approach introduces a new method that enables a secret key exchange through disjoint paths in the absence of a trusted central coordination point which would be required in traditional centralized security systems

Virtual Connections in P2P Overlays with DHT-Based Name to Address Resolution

International audienceCurrent Internet applications are still mainly bound to their transport layer connections. This prevents many features such as end-to-end security and mobility from functioning smoothly in a dynamic network. In this paper, we propose a novel architecture for decoupling communication from their supporting devices. This enforces the complete separation of devices, applications and entities such as users, services and data. Our architecture is based on a peer-topeer overlay network where each peer has a permanent name and a variable address which depends on its position in the overlay. In order to dynamically map names to addresses, our architecture provides its own distributed hash table system. After presenting the design of our architecture, we provide a scalability analysis and by performing simulations, we assess its efficiency. Simulation results show that our overlay using a name to address resolution based on a distributed hash table is scalable and has acceptable performances given the flexibility it can provide to applications

Towards Securing Communications in Infrastructure-poor Areas

Structured P2P networks have proven to be effective in the exchange of data between nodes whose identity and content are generally indexed in a DHT. For years, such DHT networks have allowed, among other users, third world inhabitants, such as African people, to exchange information among them and with the rest of the world without relying on a centralized infrastructure. Unfortunately, more than ever, reliability of communication across the Internet is threatened by various attacks, including usurpation of identity, eavesdropping or traffic modification. Thus, in order to overcome these security issues and allow peers to securely exchange data, we propose a new key management scheme that enables to handle public keys in the absence of a central coordination which would be required in a traditional PKI

Virtual Connections in P2P Overlays with DHT-Based Name to Address Resolution

Abstract—Current Internet applications are still mainly bound to their transport layer connections. This prevents many features such as end-to-end security and mobility from functioning smoothly in a dynamic network. In this paper, we propose a novel architecture for decoupling communication from their supporting devices. This enforces the complete separation of devices, applications and entities such as users, services and data. Our architecture is based on a peer-topeer overlay network where each peer has a permanent name and a variable address which depends on its position in the overlay. In order to dynamically map names to addresses, our architecture provides its own distributed hash table system. After presenting the design of our architecture, we provide a scalability analysis and by performing simulations, we assess its efficiency. Simulation results show that our overlay using a name to address resolution based on a distributed hash table is scalable and has acceptable performances given the flexibility it can provide to applications. Keywords-overlay; virtual connection; distributed hash table; name resolution; I

Sustainable ICT4D in Africa: Where Do We Go From Here?

In recent years many researchers in Africa and beyond have devoted considerable resources investigating ways to harness the potential of ICT for improving users’ livelihood in developing areas. Topics and domains of interest appear to be broad with recurring themes and solutions. Unfortunately there are no clear research roadmaps on what is urgent and of the state of the art solutions. In this position paper for the AFRICOMM series of conference, we propose to investigate some priorities for ICT4D in Africa. We believe that our work could motivate researchers and create a synergy around a few important challenges of ICT4D in Africa