Stateless IoT Authentication Header for Secure Communication
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Solution Overview
Problem
In the Internet of Things (IoT) environment, there is a need for secure communication between connected objects and a remote management central entity, especially considering the limited computational resources of connected objects, which are vulnerable to cyber-attacks and require end-to-end security without significant computational overhead.
Innovation Solution
A communication method that generates a payload data message with an authentication header, including a context parameter representing the hardware configuration, encrypted using asymmetric keys, and a signature, allowing secure transmission between entities without requiring extensive computational resources, enabling end-to-end security and integrity verification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If asymmetric key encryption and authentication are implemented in IoT connected objects, then communication security and data integrity are improved, but computational resource consumption increases beyond the limited capabilities of connected objects
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication mechanism is segmented into two distinct parts: a stateless authentication header that can be independently verified, and the payload data. This allows the connected object to generate authentication without maintaining complex session states, reducing computational overhead while preserving security.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication header is generated in advance as part of the message preparation process, incorporating all necessary authentication elements (digital signature, timestamp, nonce) before transmission. This preliminary action eliminates the need for complex runtime authentication negotiations and state management during communication.
2Reliability
If complex authentication protocols and state management are implemented, then communication security is improved, but device complexity and operational difficulty increase for resource-constrained IoT devices
Solution Approach 1:
The state management complexity is extracted from the connected object and relocated to the receiving end. The authentication header contains all necessary verification information in a self-contained manner, allowing the receiver to perform verification without the sender maintaining any authentication state.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication header is designed to be self-sufficient, containing all necessary information (digital signature, timestamp, nonce, algorithm identifiers) for verification. This self-service approach eliminates the need for complex state synchronization and authentication context management between communicating parties.
3Reliability
If end-to-end encryption is implemented across extended sensor networks, then communication security is improved, but the computational burden increases significantly for devices with limited processing capacity
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of implementing full end-to-end encryption across the entire data path, the solution applies selective authentication only to critical elements (the authentication header containing digital signature and timestamp). This partial action provides sufficient security for IoT communications without the excessive computational burden of encrypting all data at every hop.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication mechanism uses parameter changes such as timestamps and nonces to provide security without requiring heavy encryption. By varying these parameters with each message, the system achieves security through diversity rather than through computationally intensive encryption algorithms.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for communication between at least two communicating entities, a first communicating entity generating at least one data message comprising a payload and an authentication heading, the method including generating a context parameter including at least one datum representing the material con-figuration of the first entity; generating a security profile in the authentication heading, which defines the conditions of encoding the payload of the message and of generating a signature by an algorithm applied at least to the payload of the message; including the signature in the generated message; inserting a stored identifier of the first communication entity into the authentication heading; and inserting the safety profile into the payload or into the authentication heading.