Signed Location Information for WLAN Spoofing Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge is to accurately determine the location of a mobile computing device in a wireless local area network (WLAN) where location information from wireless access points may be compromised or spoofed, leading to inaccurate location calculations, especially in environments with high interference or movement of access points.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves a system where a location provider generates and signs location information for wireless access points using a digital signature, ensuring the authenticity and freshness of the data, and a mobile device verifies this information to determine its location based on trusted access points, using received signal strength indication (RSSI) or round trip travel time (RTT) estimates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If location information from wireless access points is used for location determination, then location service can be provided indoors and in GPS-denied environments, but the location information may be compromised or spoofed leading to inaccurate location calculations
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary verification of location information by checking digital signatures and timestamps before using the data for location calculations. This advance validation prevents compromised or spoofed location information from being used, thereby maintaining reliability in GPS-denied environments while mitigating the harmful effects of potential spoofing attacks.
2Reliability
If digital signatures are added to location information to prevent spoofing, then security and authenticity are improved, but the complexity of the location provider system increases
Solution Approach 1:
The location provider system automatically generates and attaches digital signatures to location information without requiring manual intervention. The verification process is also automated, with the mobile device independently checking the authenticity of received location data. This self-service approach maintains high security and authenticity while minimizing the operational complexity burden on system operators.
3Measurement precision
If location information is frequently updated to ensure freshness, then location accuracy is improved, but the energy consumption of GPS receivers and processing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary verification mechanism that checks the freshness and authenticity of location information through digital signatures and timestamps before processing. This intermediary layer ensures that only valid, fresh location data is used for calculations, improving location accuracy while avoiding the need for continuous GPS reception and reducing power consumption by validating data from alternative sources.
Data Source
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AI summary
A system and method for locating a network device (12). A location provider (18) determines, based on location data, a location of a wireless access point (14A-D). The location data includes location data from each of a plurality of network devices (12, 14A-D), wherein the location data for each network device (12, 14A-D) includes the network device's location and data representative of a distance between the wireless access point (14A-D) and each network device (12, 14A-D). The location provider (18) generates, based on the location of the wireless access point (14A-D), location information for the wireless access point (14A-D), signs the location information with a credential to form signed location information, and communicates the signed location information to the wireless access point (14A-D).