A security-enhanced scheme for MQTT protocol based on domestic cryptographic algorithm

Abstract

Recently, the rapid advancement of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technology has led to the utilization of various communication protocols. Among these, the Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol has become prevalent. Operating on a publish/subscribe model, MQTT’s popularity in IIoT because of simplicity, lightweight nature, and ease of implementation. However, traditional MQTT protocol standards have neglected critical security concerns during the communication process, such as ineffective identity authentication, weak data confidentiality, and a lack of access control functions. To address these challenges, this paper introduces a security-enhanced scheme for the MQTT protocol based on domestic cryptographic algorithms. The proposed method enforces mutual identity authentication between the MQTT Client and the MQTT Broker using digital certificates. It also implements access control through an Access Control List (ACL) and ensures end-to-end data security via the symmetric encryption algorithm SM4. Through comprehensive security analysis and experimental validation, this paper demonstrates that the enhanced scheme effectively rectifies the MQTT protocol’s security deficiencies, achieving these improvements with small overhead.