Mobile Agent Security Using Amrani et al's Protocol and Binary Serialization

Abstract

Multi-agent system (MAS) appears as a solution to satisfy the requirement of intelligence in distributed system, this paradigm also accepts distribution and networking as a basic concept. MAS is a system which there is an agent that can act autonomously with intelligent behaviour and can solve complex problem. Mobility is a property of agent which allows him to move from one node to another to achieve their goal. Researchers in different fields have been attracted by systems based on mobile agent, because of the pro-active aspects and the autonomous tasks of the agent. Unfortunately the security of mobile agents is very difficult, especially when it comes to secure an entity that migrates from one platform to another across the network, and which must be executed correctly and safely on the hosting platform. In this paper we will focus on the security aspect of a mobile agent from one platform to another, by introducing a new approach based on cryptographic mechanisms. This approach involves the Amrani et al.'s protocol to get a session key, to guarantee a mutual authentication and the confidentiality of data exchanged, as well as a binary serialisation to ensure the mobility of the agent across the network.