Trusted Execution Environment for Mobile Sensor Data Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
Mobile devices are vulnerable to 'man-in-the-middle' attacks, which allow malicious software to access and modify context data before encryption, compromising security and privacy, especially in sensitive applications like e-commerce.
Innovation Solution
A trusted execution environment (TEE) is implemented to host secure sensor drivers, restricting access and providing digital signature verification for context data, ensuring only authorized applications can access and modify the data, preventing unauthorized access and data tampering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If encryption based secure channel is established over wireless network, then data transmission security is improved, but vulnerability to man-in-the-middle attacks increases because malicious software can access context data before encryption
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the security architecture into two distinct environments: a trusted execution environment (TEE) for secure sensor data collection and processing, and a untrusted environment for general application execution. This segmentation prevents malicious software in the untrusted environment from accessing raw sensor data, as the TEE acts as an isolated secure zone that encrypts and processes data before making it available to applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The trusted execution environment serves as an intermediary between the sensors and the applications. Instead of allowing direct access from applications to sensors (which would be vulnerable to malware), the TEE mediates all data flow by collecting sensor data, verifying its integrity, encrypting it, and then providing it to authorized applications through controlled interfaces.
2Adaptability or versatility
If context data is made available to applications, then application functionality is improved, but security and privacy protection deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different security qualities to different parts of the data flow. Raw sensor data collected within the TEE maintains high security protection with strict access controls. Once processed and encrypted by the TEE, the data is provided to applications in a controlled manner. This local quality approach allows applications to access necessary context data for functionality while maintaining strong security protections at critical points in the data flow.
Solution Approach 2:
The trusted execution environment changes the security parameters of context data through encryption and integrity verification before providing it to applications. The TEE transforms raw sensor readings into encrypted, verified data structures that maintain security properties while being usable by applications. This parameter transformation allows applications to utilize context data for enhanced functionality without exposing them to the security risks of accessing raw sensor data.
Data Source
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AI summary
Generally, this disclosure describes devices, methods and systems for securely providing context sensor data to mobile platform applications. The method may include configuring one or more sensors to provide context data, the context data associated with a mobile device; providing an application programming interface (API) to a sensor driver, the sensor driver configured to control the sensors; providing a trusted execution environment (TEE) operating on the mobile device, the TEE configured to host the sensor driver and restrict control access and data access to the sensor driver and to the sensors; generating a request for the context data through the API, the request generated by an application associated with the mobile device; receiving, by the application, the requested context data and a validity indicator through the API; verifying, by the application, the requested context data based on the validity indicator; and adjusting a policy associated with the application based on the verified context data.