Binod Vaidya

Improved two-factor user authentication in wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are considered due to the ubiquitous nature, ease of deployment, and wide range of possible applications. WSNs can be deployed in unattended environments, where a registered user can login to the network and access data collected by the linked sensors. Authenticating users in resource constrained environments is one of the major security concerns. Since sensor nodes have limited resources and computation power, it is desirable that the authentication protocol is simple and efficient. In 2009, M. L. Das proposed a two-factor authentication for WSNs, where a user has to prove possession of both, a password and a smart card. Since his scheme utilizes only cryptographic one-way hash function and exclusive-OR operation, it is well-suited for resource constrained environments. However, Khan and Algahathbar pointed out that Dass scheme has some flaws and is vulnerable to various attacks and proposed an alternative solution. In this paper, we show that both, Dass and Khan-Algahathbars schemes have flaws and remain vulnerable to various attacks including stolen smart card attacks. To overcome the security weaknesses of both schemes, we propose an improved two-factor user authentication that is resilient to stolen smart card attacks as well as other common types of attacks. We provide security evaluation of the proposed protocols showing its robustness to various attacks and analyzed the schemes performance to determine its efficiency. Compared to the previous schemes, it is proven more robust and provides better security.

Robust one-time password authentication scheme using smart card for home network environment

Due to the exponential growth of the Internet users and wireless devices, interests on home networks have been enormously increased in recent days. In digital home networks, home services including remote access and control to home appliances as well as services offered by service providers are alluring. However, the remote control services cause digital home networks to have various security threats. Hence, for digital home networks, robust security services, especially remote user authentication, should be considered. This paper presents a robust and efficient authentication scheme based on strong-password approach to provide secure remote access in digital home network environments. The proposed scheme uses lightweight computation modules including hashed one-time password and hash-chaining technique along with low-cost smart card technology. It aims to satisfy several security requirements including stolen smart card attack and forward secrecy with lost smart card as well as functional requirements including no verification table and no time synchronization. Comparing with the existing representative schemes, it can be validated that the proposed scheme is more robust authentication mechanism having better security properties. We have conducted formal verification of the proposed scheme.

Secure Multipath Routing Scheme for Mobile Ad Hoc Network

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are collections of autonomous mobile nodes with links that are made or broken in an arbitrary way. Due to frequent node and link failures, multipath MANET is preferred than single-path MANET in many applications. Multipath routing schemes are used for achieving various goals such as robustness, reliability, and load balancing. However, before they can be successfully deployed several security threats must be addressed. Due to lack of fixed infrastructure, security in ad-hoc routing is challenging task, especially in multipath MANET. In this paper, we propose a robust multipath routing scheme for MANET and also security mechanism for such a routing scheme. We discuss security analysis for our scheme. And we conduct simulation to evaluate the cost of the proposed secure multipath routing scheme and present some preliminary results.

Robust and secure routing scheme for wireless multihop network

Mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is an appealing technology that has attracted lots of research efforts. On-demand routing protocol such as AODV may suffer from frequent topological changes. Due to frequent communication failures, multipath MANET is preferred than single-path MANET in many applications as former is used for achieving robustness and load balancing and improving reliability. Although multipath MANET is attractive solution, there are still some major flaws that prevent commercial growth. Security is one of these main barriers; MANETs are known to be particularly vulnerable to security attack. The paper presents a design of robust and secure framework for multipath MANET. In this paper, we propose not only a robust multipath routing protocol but also an extended security scheme. We discuss security analysis for proposed security scheme. And we also conduct simulation to evaluate such a framework through different performance metrics. Results show that the proposed routing protocol achieves better performance in terms of various metrics than other protocols.

Robust dynamic user authentication scheme for wireless sensor networks

In recent years, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been widely used in different domains. For instance, WSNs can be deployed in insecure and unattended environments. In this regard, user authentication is a critical issue for WSNs. In this paper, we propose a user authentication protocol in WSNs, which is variation of strong-password based solution proposed by Wong et al. The proposed protocol is evaluated and compared with the previous schemes.

Two-factor mutual authentication with key agreement in wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks WSNs are getting popular for their deployment in unattended environments, where a registered user can log in to the network and access data collected from the desired sensor. Because of limited resources and computation power in sensor nodes, an authentication protocol should be simple and efficient. M.L. Das proposed a two-factor authentication scheme for WSNs. Because his scheme uses only one-way hash function and XOR operation, it is well suited for resource-constrained environments. Because of some flaws in Dass scheme, several improved schemes have been introduced. In this paper, we show that Dass scheme and its derivatives not only have security imperfections but also do not provide key agreement. To overcome their security shortcomings, we propose a novel user authentication scheme with key agreement for WSN. We furnish security analysis of the proposed protocol to show its robustness to various attacks as well as analyze its performance to determine its efficiency. We provide protocol analysis and verification of the proposed protocol. Compared with the existing schemes, it is more robust and offers better security. Copyright

Authentication and authorization mechanisms for substation automation in smart grid network

Supervisory control and data acquisition systems are used extensively to control and monitor critical infrastructure including power, gas, oil, and water. To integrate intelligent electronic devices in smart grid infrastructure, the utilities are deploying substation automation systems (SASs) and extensive communication networks, but there is growing concern about SCADA security including substation security. Although there are several solutions utilized to prevent security threats in SCADA networks, existing SCADA networks still have severe shortcomings. In this article, we propose a lightweight and efficient security solution for SASs that provides multilevel multi-factor authentication and attribute-based authorization by deploying public key certificates, and zero-knowledge protocol-based server-aided verification and access control mechanisms using attribute certificates. It can be seen that the proposed approach is efficient and robust.

Security Mechanism for Multi-Domain Vehicle-to-Grid Infrastructure

Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) reduce greenhouse gas emission by using power from the electric grid. PEVs are considered distributed energy resources and mobile storage devices, which require two-way communication standards to communicate with emerging Smart Grid infrastructure. Due to frequent mobility of PEVs, inter-utility real-time data communication is critical to the operation of interconnected systems in Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) infrastructure. Interoperability and security considerations of V2G infrastructure components are decisive for widespread deployment of PEVs. In this paper, we propose multi-domain network architecture for V2G infrastructure which includes comprehensive hybrid public key infrastructure using hierarchical and peer-to-peer cross-certifications. We present system and performance analysis of the proposed security architecture.

A Novel Intra-body Sensor for Vaginal Temperature Monitoring

Over the years some medical studies have tried to better understand the internal behavior of human beings. Many researchers in this domain have been striving to find relationships between intra-vaginal temperature and certain female health conditions, such as ovulation and fertile period since woman’s intra-vaginal temperature is one of the body parameters most preferred in such studies. However, due to lack of a appropriate technology, medical research devoted to studying correlations of such body parameters with certain womans’ body phenomena could not obtain better results. This article presents the design and implementation of a novel intra-body sensor for acquisition and monitoring of intra-vaginal temperatures. This novel intra-body sensor provides data collection that is used for studying the relation between temperature variations and female health conditions, such as anticipation and monitoring of the ovulation period, detection of pregnancy contractions, preterm labor prevention, etc.. The motivation for this work focuses on the development of this new intra-body sensor that will represent a major step in medical technology. The novel sensor was tested and validated on hospitalized women as well as normal healthy women. Finally our medical team has attested to the accuracy, usability and performance of this novel intra-body sensor.

Device authentication mechanism for Smart Energy Home Area Networks

Smart Energy Home Area Networks (SE-HAN) enable two-way communication between utility companies and HAN devices. Due to multifaceted nature of SE-HAN, securely managing SE-HAN is very challenging. In this paper, we propose a device authentication mechanism for smart energy home area network. The proposed mechanism is more robust and secure than the existing one.