Some problems and problematic solutions of secure hot-plug

Abstract

Communication layers underlying modern distributed systems have different advantages and disadvantages that are consequences of the different properties of the communication layer. One such property is capability (the ability to dynamically and automatically reconfigure the system) of the communication layer and another one is security (in this context, authentication and encryption). The problem is that there is a hidden contradiction between the hot-plug capability and security, which leads us to the need of secure, hot-plug capable communication layers. This is crucial in wireless communication layers where security and hot-plug capabilities may be mandatory for the distributed system to succeed, even if the system is not as life-critical as an in-car wireless sensor network. In life-critical systems, such as systems analyzed by the Authors, this contradiction is significant enough to risk the existence of the system. This article presents the underlying contradiction of logics for secure hot-plug and analyzes some of the currently available solutions to reduce risks while pointing out similarities and differences between the theoretical secure hot-plug wireless systems and the practically semi-secure semi-hot-plug Internet. The problems of the traditional approaches in life-critical wireless sensor systems such as medical sensor networks and in-vehicle wireless networks are presented and risk-reducing methods are shown.