Data Dependent Keying for Wireless Networks

Abstract

The failure of the 802.11 WEP security specification to provide any reasonable level of security has come under sharp criticism recently. In this paper we propose a novel scheme for providing security in both a basestation based, as well as an ad hoc network environment. Our proposed scheme uses data exchanged between communicating peers to evolve per packet keys. In addition to the concept of Data Dependent Keying(DDK) we include other well known security primitives such as SHA-1 based HMAC and RC4 encryption to provide a complete security solution for wireless networks. We argue that our scheme provides an adequate security/overhead tradeoff, and can be easily implemented in current hardware platforms. In addition, the low overhead characteristic as well as the use of symmetric cryptographic functions makes the scheme an attractive option for sensor networks, where energy efficiency is a primary objective.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2003
Accession Number
ADA440782

Entities

People

  • Jason Cooper
  • John Baras
  • Manish Karir

Organizations

  • University of Maryland

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • C4I
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Ad Hoc Networks
  • Algorithms
  • Communication Networks
  • Cryptography
  • Detectors
  • Engineering
  • Information Operations
  • Mesh Networks
  • Military Research
  • Networks
  • Routing Protocols
  • Secure Communications
  • Security
  • Sensor Networks
  • Standards
  • Wireless Communications
  • Wireless Networks

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Computer Networking
  • Cybersecurity.
  • Theoretical Analysis.