Group communication can benefit from IP multicast to achieve scalable exchange of messages. However, there is a challenge of effectively controlling access to the transmitted data. IP multicast by itself does not provide any mechanisms for preventing nongroup members to have access to the group communication. Although encryption can be used to protect messages exchanged among group members, distributing the cryptographic keys becomes an issue. Researchers have proposed several different approaches to group key management. These approaches can be divided into three main classes: centralized group key management protocols, decentralized architectures and distributed key management protocols. The three classes are described here and an insight given to their features and goals. The area of group key management is then surveyed and proposed solutions are classified according to those characteristics.

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A survey of key management for secure group communication

A secure data parser is provided that may be integrated into any suitable system for securely storing and communicating data. The secure data parser parses data and then splits the data into multiple portions that are stored or communicated distinctly. Encryption of the original data, the portions of data, or both may be employed for additional security. The secure data parser may be used to protect data in motion by splitting original data into portions of data, that may be communicated using multiple communications paths.

Secure data parser method and system

A method and system for handling roaming mobile nodes in a wireless network. The system uses a Subnet Context Manager to store current Network session keys, security policy and duration of the session (e.g. session timeout) for mobile nodes, which is established when the mobile node is initially authenticated. Pairwise transit keys are derived from the network session key. The Subnet Context Manager handles subsequent reassociation requests. When a mobile node roams to a new access point, the access point obtains the network session key from the Subnet Context Manager and validates the mobile node by computing a new pairwise transient key from the network session key.

802.11 using a compressed reassociation exchange to facilitate fast handoff

The systems and methods of the present invention provide a solution that makes data provably secure and accessible—addressing data security at the bit level—thereby eliminating the need for multiple perimeter hardware and software technologies. Data security is incorporated or weaved directly into the data at the bit level. The systems and methods of the present invention enable enterprise communities of interest to leverage a common enterprise infrastructure. Because security is already woven into the data, this common infrastructure can be used without compromising data security and access control. In some applications, data is authenticated, encrypted, and parsed or split into multiple shares prior to being sent to multiple locations, e.g., a private or public cloud. The data is hidden while in transit to the storage location, and is inaccessible to users who do not have the correct credentials for access.

Systems and methods for securing data in motion

Leader election is a very important problem, not only in wired networks, but in mobile, ad hoc networks as well. Existing solutions to leader election do not handle frequent topology changes and dynamic nature of mobile networks. We present a leader election algorithm that is highly adaptive to arbitrary (possibly concurrent) topological changes and is therefore well-suited for use in mobile ad hoc networks. The algorithm is based on finding an extrema and uses diffusing computations for this purpose. We show, using linear-time temporal logic, that the algorithm is "weakly" self-stabilizing and terminating. We also simulate the algorithm in a mobile ad hoc setting. Through our simulation study, we elaborate on several important issues that can significantly impact performance of such a protocol for mobile ad hoc networks such as choice of signaling, broadcast nature of wireless medium etc. Our simulation study shows that our algorithm is quite effective in that each node has a leader approximately 97-99% of the time in a variety of operating conditions.

Design and analysis of a leader election algorithm for mobile ad hoc networks

In this paper we consider the problem of key management in a highly-mobile wireless networking environment, such as a dynamic, distributed setting in which command and control nodes move along with individual users. In this scenario, data must be securely multicast from one source to many users, requiring that users be properly keyed. Furthermore, because users move in and out of the session (due to mobility, attrition, and reinforcement), in order to preserve confidentiality, it becomes necessary to rekey each time a user enters or leaves. We present a hierarchical framework and key distribution algorithms for such a dynamic environment, with a focus on how keys and trust relationships are transferred when users move between so-called "areas" in the hierarchy. We present several schemes including one that rekeys every time a member moves from area to area and one that delays rekeying so long as security is not compromised. Our preliminary analytical and simulation results indicate that it is possible to trade off communication throughput with computational and security overheads. We also briefly describe a prototype testbed in which we are implementing and experimenting with these algorithms.

T. Hardjono

Papers

Secure group communications for wireless networks