Multi-Context Sensor MAC Authentication for Real-Time Tamper Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
As devices become more complex and equipped with multiple sensors, they are increasingly vulnerable to tampering, necessitating effective methods to integrity protect and encrypt sensor data to prevent attacks like man-in-the-middle attacks.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a multi-context sensor security system that uses a multi-context crypto core to authenticate sensor data by calculating and verifying message authentication codes (MACs) incrementally for each line of data, utilizing a shared secret key and a lookup table to ensure data integrity and authenticity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If sensor data is integrity protected and encrypted to prevent attacks, then security and data authenticity are improved, but processing time and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by pre-computing and storing intermediate hash values for each sensor in a lookup table during system initialization or before data processing. When sensor data needs authentication, the system retrieves pre-computed intermediate hashes and combines them with current sensor readings to generate MACs, avoiding the need to re-process all historical sensor data from scratch. This preliminary preparation significantly reduces real-time processing time while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the sensor data processing by dividing it into individual sensor contexts, each with its own intermediate hash state. The multi-context crypto core processes each sensor's data independently, maintaining separate authentication states for each sensor. This segmentation allows parallel processing of multiple sensor streams and enables the system to handle large volumes of sensor data efficiently without requiring sequential processing of all data, thus reducing overall processing time while maintaining data authenticity.
2Measurement precision
If multiple sensors are used to gather environmental information, then measurement capability and system functionality are improved, but vulnerability to tampering and processing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal multi-context crypto core that can process authentication for multiple different sensor types (cameras, LIDAR, radar, etc.) using a unified cryptographic framework. This single multi-functional component handles diverse sensor data streams, maintaining separate authentication contexts for each sensor while using the same underlying cryptographic primitives. This universality reduces system complexity compared to implementing separate security mechanisms for each sensor type, while still providing comprehensive security for all sensors.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces intermediate hash values as mediators between raw sensor data and final MAC authentication. Each sensor's data is transformed into an intermediate hash representation that captures the essential authentication state. This intermediary representation simplifies the processing of multiple sensor streams by providing a standardized format for combination and comparison, reducing the complexity of managing multiple sensor authentications while maintaining measurement precision.
3Productivity
If real-time processing of sensor data is implemented, then productivity and response time are improved, but security verification capability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary computation of intermediate hash values that can be quickly combined with current sensor data to produce MACs for real-time verification. By pre-processing and storing these intermediate representations, the system enables rapid security verification during real-time processing without sacrificing verification accuracy. The pre-computed intermediates are designed to be combined efficiently with incoming data, maintaining both speed and security integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements incremental MAC computation where the system processes and verifies sensor data in partial steps rather than requiring complete data sets before verification. The multi-context crypto core can generate and verify MACs for individual sensor readings or small batches of data using maintained intermediate states, enabling real-time security verification at appropriate granularities. This partial action approach allows continuous verification throughout the data processing pipeline, maintaining security accuracy while enabling real-time productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and techniques are provided for authenticating sensor data. For instance, a computing device can obtain a first line of data from a first sensor. The computing device can retrieve, from at least one memory, an intermediate hash associated with the first sensor. The computing device can determine a current intermediate hash based on sensor data in the first line of data. The computing device can store the current intermediate hash in the at least one memory for processing a second line of data associated with the first sensor.