Mutual Authentication Research Articles

Secure channel estimation model for cognitive radio network physical layer security using two-level shared key authentication

Abstract Physical Layer Security (PLS) in Cognitive Radio Networks (CRN) improves the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of the external communication between the devices/ users. The security models for sensing and beamforming reduce the impact of adversaries such as eavesdroppers in the signal processing layer. To such an extent, this article introduces a Secure Channel Estimation Model (SCEM) using Channel State Information (CSI) and Deep Learning (DL) to improve the PLS. In this proposed model, the CSI is exploited to evaluate the channel utilization and actual capacity availability throughout the allocation intervals. The change in channel capacity and utilization augments the need for security through 2-level key shared authentication. The deep learning algorithm verifies the authentication completeness for maximum channel capacity utilization irrespective of adversary interference. This verification follows mutual authentication between the primary and secondary users sharing the maximum capacity channel with high secrecy. The learning monitors the outage secrecy rates to verify failed allocations such that the replacement for allocation is pursued. Thus, the physical layer security between different user categories is administered through maximum CSI exploitation with high beamforming abilities. The proposed model leverages the secrecy rate by 10.77% and the probability of detection by 15.01% and reduces the interference rate by 11.07% for the varying transmit powers.

Securing Cyber Physical Systems: Lightweight Industrial Internet of Things Authentication (LI2A) for Critical Infrastructure and Manufacturing

The increasing incorporation of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) devices into critical industrial operations and critical infrastructures necessitates robust security measures to safeguard confidential information and ensure dependable connectivity. Particularly in Cyber Physical Systems (CPSs), IIoT system security becomes critical as systems become more interconnected and digital. This paper introduces a novel Lightweight Industrial IoT Authentication (LI2A) method as a solution to address security concerns in the industrial sector and smart city infrastructure. Mutual authentication, authenticated message integrity, key agreement, soundness, forward secrecy, resistance to a variety of assaults, and minimal resource consumption are all features offered by LI2A. Critical to CPS operations, the approach prevents impersonation, man-in-the-middle, replay, eavesdropping, and modification assaults, according to a security study. The method proposed herein ensures the integrity of CPS networks by verifying communication reliability, identifying unauthorized message modifications, establishing a shared session key between users and IIoT devices, and periodically updating keys to ensure sustained security. A comprehensive assessment of performance takes into account each aspect of storage, communication, and computation. The communication and computing capabilities of LI2A, which are critical for the operation of CPS infrastructure, are demonstrated through comparisons with state-of-the-art systems from the literature. LI2A can be implemented in resource-constrained IIoT devices found in CPS and industrial environments, according to the results. By integrating IIoT devices into critical processes in CPS, it is possible to enhance security while also promoting urban digitalization and sustainability.

Measurement-Device-Independent High-Capacity Quantum Secure Direct Communication Utilizing Hyperentangled Bell States

Abstract Quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) enables the direct transmission of secret messages without prior sharing of keys among the communicating parties. However, in practical situations, an eavesdropper can compromise the measurement device and potentially steal secret messages. To enhance the reliability of QSDC systems, measurement-device-independent (MDI) QSDC protocols have been developed. In this paper, we propose a high-capacity MDI-QSDC protocol with authentication by utilizing hyperentangled Bell states. The protocol allows the sender to transmit six classical bit messages to the receiver using one quantum state. Our protocol has a higher coding capacity compared to other MDI-QSDC protocols. Additionally, we achieve mutual authentication of the identities of the communicating parties, and our scheme has significant advantages over the traditional QSDC protocols, where the legitimacy of the communicating parties has to be assumed. Theoretical analysis proves that our protocol can effectively defend against common attacks.

An Efficient Cluster-Based Mutual Authentication and Key Update Protocol for Secure Internet of Vehicles in 5G Sensor Networks.

The Internet of Vehicles (IoV), a key component of smart transportation systems, leverages 5G communication for low-latency data transmission, facilitating real-time interactions between vehicles, roadside units (RSUs), and sensor networks. However, the open nature of 5G communication channels exposes IoV systems to significant security threats, such as eavesdropping, replay attacks, and message tampering. To address these challenges, this paper proposes the Efficient Cluster-based Mutual Authentication and Key Update Protocol (ECAUP) designed to secure IoV systems within 5G-enabled sensor networks. The ECAUP meets the unique mobility and security demands of IoV by enabling fine-grained access control and dynamic key updates for RSUs through a factorial tree structure, ensuring both forward and backward secrecy. Additionally, physical unclonable functions (PUFs) are utilized to provide end-to-end authentication and physical layer security, further enhancing the system's resilience against sophisticated cyber-attacks. The security of the ECAUP is formally verified using BAN Logic and ProVerif, and a comparative analysis demonstrates its superiority in terms of overhead efficiency (more than 50%) and security features over existing protocols. This work contributes to the development of secure, resilient, and efficient intelligent transportation systems, ensuring robust communication and protection in sensor-based IoV environments.

A Novel Mutual Quantum Identity Authentication of two-party Protocol with Chaotic Systems

A Novel Mutual Quantum Identity Authentication of two-party Protocol with Chaotic Systems

ALMASH: an anonymity-based lightweight mutual authentication scheme for internet of healthcare things

ALMASH: an anonymity-based lightweight mutual authentication scheme for internet of healthcare things

Blockchain-Assisted Secure and Lightweight Authentication Scheme for Multi-Server Internet of Drones Environments

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have seen widespread adoption across diverse sectors, including agriculture, logistics, surveillance, and disaster management, due to their capabilities for real-time data acquisition and autonomous operations. The integration of UAVs with Internet of Things (IoT) systems further amplifies their functionality, enabling sophisticated applications such as smart city management and environmental monitoring. In this context, blockchain technology plays a pivotal role by providing a decentralized, tamper-resistant ledger that facilitates secure data exchange between UAVs and connected devices. Its transparent and immutable characteristics mitigate the risk of a single point of failure, thereby enhancing data integrity and bolstering trust within UAV–IoT communication networks. However, the interconnected nature of these systems introduces significant security challenges, including unauthorized access, data breaches, and a variety of network-based attacks. These issues are further compounded by the limited computational capabilities of IoT devices and the inherent vulnerabilities of wireless communication channels. Recently, a lightweight mutual authentication scheme using blockchain was presented; however, our analysis identified several critical security flaws in these existing protocols, such as drone impersonation and session key disclosure. To address these vulnerabilities, we propose a secure and lightweight authentication scheme for multi-server UAV–IoT environments. The proposed protocol effectively mitigates emerging security threats while maintaining low computational and communication overhead. We validate the security of our scheme using formal methods, including the Real-Or-Random (RoR) model and BAN logic. Comparative performance evaluations demonstrate that our protocol enhances security while also achieving efficiency, making it well-suited for resource-constrained IoT applications.

Design of secure and unique addressing with mutual authentication scheme in IoT networks

Design of secure and unique addressing with mutual authentication scheme in IoT networks

VC-MAKA: Mutual Authentication and Key Agreement Protocol Based on Verifiable Commitment for Internet of Vehicles

VC-MAKA: Mutual Authentication and Key Agreement Protocol Based on Verifiable Commitment for Internet of Vehicles

Mutual Authentication Protocols Based on PUF and Multitrusted Authority for Internet of Vehicles

Mutual Authentication Protocols Based on PUF and Multitrusted Authority for Internet of Vehicles

An Enhanced Lightweight Secure Authentication and Privacy-Preserving Approach for VANETs

Aims and Background: Vehicular-Adhoc-Networks (VANETs) have gained a lot of attention in the past ten years. Used extensively in intelligent transport systems (ITS), it facilitates the sharing of traffic data between vehicles and their immediate surroundings, resulting in a more pleasant driving experience. When it comes to VANET security, privacy and security are the two biggest obstacles. To improve security in VANET, authentication and privacy-preserving methods are required because any specific disclosure of vehicle specifics, including route data, might have devastating consequences. Objectives & Methodology: In light of this need, this research introduces a novel framework for VANETs called enhanced timed efficient stream loss-tolerant authentication (ETESLTA), which enables a new kind of lightweight authentication while simultaneously protecting users' privacy. Initialisation, registration, mutual authentication, broadcasting and verification, and vehicle revocation are all parts of the suggested model. Furthermore, the ETESLTA method requires very little memory while yet providing excellent broadcast authentication, just like TESLTA. In addition, the ETESLTA method incorporates a cuckoo filter to record the real details of cars inside the RSU's detection range. Results: The suggested approach provides strong anonymity to achieve privacy and resists common assaults, and it features lightweight mutual authentication between the parties. A wide scale of experiments are conducted and the outcomes are evaluated in terms of numerous metrics to ensure the ETESLTA technique performs well. Conclusion: The experimental results demonstrated that the ETESLTA method was superior to the most current state-of-the-art approaches.

Two-factor Mutual Authentication with Fingerprint and MAC Address Validation

Mobile Ad hoc NETworks (MANET), unlike typical wireless networks, may be used spontaneously without the need for centralized management or network environment. Mobile nodes act as mediators to help multi-hop communications in such networks, and most instances, they are responsible for all connectivity tasks. MANET is a challenging endeavor because these systems can be attacked, which can harm the network. As a result, security concerns become a primary factor for these types of networks. This article aims to present an efficient two-factor smart card-based passcode authentication technique for securing legitimate users on an unprotected network. This scheme enables the password resetting feature. A secured mechanism for sharing keys is offered by using the hash function. We present a new two-factor mutual authentication technique based on an entirely new mechanism called the virtual smart card. Compared to authentication, the proposed method has fewer computation processes but is more time efficient since it is based on a hash function. Additionally, this approach is resistant to most attacker behaviors, such as Mutual authentication, Gateway node bypassing attacks, DoS attacks, replay attacks, Man in the middle attacks, and stolen smart device attacks. Experimental results validate the efficiency of this scheme, and its security is also analyzed.

A sustainable mutual authentication protocol for IoT-Fog-Cloud environment

A sustainable mutual authentication protocol for IoT-Fog-Cloud environment

Hybrid Mutual Authentication for Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Communication Without the Coverage of Roadside Units

The security issues in Vehicle Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs) are prevalent within Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). To ensure the security of vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, extensive research on V2I authentication has been conducted in recent years. However, these protocols often overlook the limitations of communication range, leading to failures in V2I communication. Consequently, addressing the challenge of secure V2I communication in areas not covered by distributed roadside units (RSUs) remains a significant task. To address these issues, the current study proposes an Anonymous Certificate-less Hybrid Mutual Authentication Protocol (ACHMAP) based on Vehicle-to-Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2V2I) communication. In the proposed protocol, a secure multi-hop link is established through vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) mutual one-time token authentication. Subsequently, the out-of-coverage vehicle and relevant RSUs complete V2I mutual authentication using signcryption messages transmitted by vehicle nodes. In the security analysis, it is demonstrated that the entire V2V2I stage can resist various security attacks, such as replay attacks, impersonation attacks, and threats to user anonymity, while preserving confidentiality and integrity. We simulated the proposed protocol using Network Simulator 3 (NS-3) to confirm that the authentication mechanism has lower overhead and minimal authentication delay in V2V2I communication.

VAuth: Robust Lightweight Mutual Authentication Protocol Preserving User’s Anonymity for VANET With FPGA Implementation

VAuth: Robust Lightweight Mutual Authentication Protocol Preserving User’s Anonymity for VANET With FPGA Implementation

A provably secure identity-based access control scheme for renewable energy Internet of Things

—The Renewable Energy Internet of Things (REIoT) serves as a sustainable solution to climate warming and environmental pollution, which enhances the stability and reliability of renewable energy systems (RES) by status acquisition of sensing devices (SDs) and intelligent processing of edge devices (EDs). However, the communication channel between SDs and EDs is vulnerable to potential attacks, such as impersonation, man-in-the-middle, and physical capture attacks. Moreover, the sensitive identity information of SDs and EDs cannot be openly disclosed during communication within the REIoT environment. To tackle these security issues, an identity-based device access control scheme for the REIoT (IBAC-REIoT) is proposed, which establishes a secure communication channel between SDs and EDs after mutual authentication. Access control is then conducted using pseudo-identity to ensure device anonymity and untraceability. To validate the proposed IBAC-REIoT's security, a comprehensive security analysis has been conducted, incorporating the widely accepted real-or-random (ROR) model-based formal security analysis, informal security analysis, and formal security verification using broadly accepted automated validation AVISPA tools. Finally, through the comparative analysis with other schemes, it is proved that the proposed IBAC-REIoT is superior in security features, computational and communicational cost, particularly in alleviating burden on SDs.

Advanced security framework for low Earth orbit satellites in space information network

Recently, low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites have emerged as key players in space information network (SIN) due to their ability to provide global coverage. However, they remain susceptible to threats such as denial of service (DoS), man-in-the-middle (MITM), and spoofing attacks. In this paper, we propose a cross-layer security framework (CLSF) to address these vulnerabilities. Our approach begins by employing a physically unclonable function (PUF) at the upper layer to establish mutual authentication between legitimate satellites and ground stations, while also securely exchanging frequency seeds for the next phase. Following this, dynamic seed frequency hopping (DSFH) is applied at the physical layer to counter DoS, MITM, and spoofing attacks. Additionally, the frequency transitions of malicious satellites are modeled using a Markov chain. Our results demonstrate that the proposed CLSF, which integrates PUF and DSFH, delivers strong security performance.

LightAuth: A Lightweight Sensor Nodes Authentication Framework for Smart Health System

ABSTRACTCounterfeit medical devices pose a threat to patient safety, necessitating a secure device authentication system for medical applications. Resource‐constrained sensory nodes are vulnerable to hacking, prompting the need for robust security measures. Token‐based authentication schemes, such as one‐time passwords (OTPs), smart cards, key fobs, and mobile authentication apps, along with certificate‐based authentication methods, such as client and code‐signing, employ cryptographic frameworks like elliptical curve cryptography (ECC) and physical unclonable functions (PUF). However, these methods face challenges, including block sequence issues and susceptibility to side‐channel attacks. To address these issues, we propose a framework for mutual authentication using private Ethereum. This framework integrates private Ethereum and cryptographic techniques for encrypting and decrypting data using mathematical algorithms to overcome block sequence issues and side‐channel attacks. Similarly, fog nodes are utilised to enhance local computing, storage, and networking capabilities for sensors. The framework is evaluated using metrics such as communication costs, execution costs, and computation costs based on Ethereum gas consumption. The performance of the LightAuth framework is compared with that of the Smart Contracts Against Counterfeit IoMT (SCACIoMT) framework, designed for Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) devices. The effectiveness of LightAuth is verified through formal security analysis using BAN logic.

An Efficient EHR Secure Exchange Among Healthcare Servers Using Light Weight Scheme

This work addresses the critical need for secure and patient-controlled Electronic Health Records (EHR) migration among healthcare hospitals' cloud servers (HHS). The relevant approaches often lack robust access control and leave data vulnerable during transfer. Our proposed scheme empowers patients to delegate EHR migration to a trusted Third-Party Hospital (TTPH); which is the Certification Authority (CA) while enforcing access control. The system leverages asymmetric encryption utilizing the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), EEC and ECDSA added robust security and lightness EHR sharing. Patient and user privacy is managed due to anonymity through cryptographic hashing for data protection and utilizes mutual authentication for secure communication. Formal security analysis using the Scyther tool and informal analysis was conducted to validate the system's robustness. The proposed scheme achieved EHR integrity due to the verification of the communicated HHS and ensuring the integrity of the HHS digital certificate during EHR migration. Ultimately, the result achieved in the proposed work demonstrated the scheme's high balance between data security and accuracy of communication, where the best result obtained represented 7.7/ ms as computational cost and 1248 /bits as communication cost compared with the relevant approaches.

A Robust Mutual Authentication Scheme for Health-Focused Connected Intelligent Objects

A Robust Mutual Authentication Scheme for Health-Focused Connected Intelligent Objects