Abstract
This paper studies key management, a fundamental problem in securing mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). We present IKM, an ID-based key management scheme as a novel combination of ID-based and threshold cryptography. IKM is a certificateless solution in that public keys of mobile nodes are directly derivable from their known IDs plus some common information. It thus eliminates the need for certificate-based authenticated public-key distribution indispensable in conventional public-key management schemes. IKM features a novel construction method of ID-based public/private keys, which not only ensures high-level tolerance to node compromise, but also enables efficient network-wide key update via a single broadcast message. We also provide general guidelines about how to choose the secret-sharing parameters used with threshold cryptography to meet desirable levels of security and robustness. The advantages of IKM over conventional certificate-based solutions are justified through extensive simulations. Since most MANET security mechanisms thus far involve the heavy use of certificates, we believe that our findings open a new avenue towards more effective and efficient security design for MANETs.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 386-399 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2006 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- ID-based cryptography
- Key management
- Mobile ad hoc networks
- Secret sharing
- Security
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Computer Science
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering