CT-ISG: Opportunistic Secret Key Exchange Using Wireless Link Characteristics and Device Mobility

本研究的目的是建立新的基于测量的方法，用于在两个无线设备之间建立安全的密钥，而无需传递密钥，使用无线介质的各种物理特性，特别是称为时间链路签名的创新测量，和使用设备移动性。这项研究的智力价值包括：（i）收集各种室内和室外设置中的无线链路签名的空间和时间行为的广泛测量和表征，（ii）通过使用分析方法和测量数据确定不同设置中的共享秘密空间，（iii）用于增强共享秘密的长度以使其对暴力攻击鲁棒的新方法，（iv）用于处理链路签名的非对称测量的新方法，以及（v）具有特定配置建议的完整的、可实现的方法，在真实的场景中建立安全的密钥。这项研究将产生重大的广泛影响。它产生了大量的测量数据，可用于各种未来的无线通信和安全研究;这些数据是并将继续通过NSF资助的CRAWDAD存储库提供给研究界。 这项研究的结果可能使移动的应用程序更安全地使用的方式，需要远低于复杂的管理和远低于现有的加密方法的计算，这些结果有利于安全和目标的移动性在绿色应用程序。 最后，在更广泛的影响，这项研究将被用于与PI的现有NSF STEP项目为高中生创建学习模块，以证明公钥密码系统的问题和局限性，并需要新的想法建立秘密密钥。

The objective of this research is to build new measurement-based methods for secure secret key establishment between two wireless devices, without ever communicating the secret key, using diverse physical characteristics of the wireless medium, notably an innovative measurement called temporal link signatures, and using device mobility.The intellectual merits of this research include (i) collection of extensive measurements and characterization of spatial and temporal behavior of wireless link signatures in a variety of indoor and outdoor settings, (ii) determination of the shared secret space in different settings through the use of analytical methods and the measurement data, (iii) novel methods for enhancing the length of the shared secrets to make them robust against brute force attacks, (iv) novel methods for dealing with asymmetric measurements of link signatures, and (v) a complete, implementable methodology, with specific configuration recommendations, for secure secret key establishment in real scenarios.This research will have a significant broad impacts. It generates a large amount of measurement data useful for various future wireless communications and security research; this data is and will continue to be available to the research community through the NSF-funded CRAWDAD repository. The results of this research potentially make mobile applications safer to use in ways that require far less complex management and far less computation than the existing cryptographic methods; these results benefit both security and goals of using mobility in green applications. Finally in broader impacts, this research will be used in conjunction with the PI's existing NSF STEP project for creating learning modules for high school students to demonstrate the problems and limitations of public key cryptosystems and the need for new ideas for secret key establishment.