Secure Key Distribution Using Fragmentation and Assimilation in Wireless Sensor and Actor Networks

Secure key distribution is one of the most important building blocks to ensure confidentiality in wireless sensor and actor networks (WSANs). However, the key distribution becomes a challenging task when keys have to be relayed by compromised nodes in order to establish secure communication between...

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Main Authors: AtaUllah Ghafoor, Muhammad Sher, Muhammad Imran, Abdelouahid Derhab
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2015-09-01
Series:International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/542856
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author AtaUllah Ghafoor
Muhammad Sher
Muhammad Imran
Abdelouahid Derhab
author_facet AtaUllah Ghafoor
Muhammad Sher
Muhammad Imran
Abdelouahid Derhab
author_sort AtaUllah Ghafoor
collection DOAJ
description Secure key distribution is one of the most important building blocks to ensure confidentiality in wireless sensor and actor networks (WSANs). However, the key distribution becomes a challenging task when keys have to be relayed by compromised nodes in order to establish secure communication between distant nodes. To deal with this issue, we propose in this paper a key distribution scheme, named key distribution using fragmentation and assimilation (KDFA). In this scheme, the sender node splits the actual key into fragments and sends them through intermediate actor nodes towards the receiver node. The latter assimilates these key fragments using XOR operation to reconstruct the actual key. In this case, attacker cannot retrieve the actual key and only gets the key fragment. KDFA is composed of two parts: (a) key distribution protocol (KDP) to distribute the key using intra-actor and interactor communication scenarios and (b) key fragmentation algorithm (KFA) to slice the key using binary calculations. KDFA execution has been specified and formally verified using Rubin logic. Moreover, the performance and the resilience of the proposed protocol are further analyzed through extensive simulations using ns-2.35. Results show that KDFA is resilient against actor node compromise and key exposure.
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spelling doaj-art-a55d2ec541024160a4f793b8cc4240e22025-08-20T03:19:00ZengWileyInternational Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks1550-14772015-09-011110.1155/2015/542856542856Secure Key Distribution Using Fragmentation and Assimilation in Wireless Sensor and Actor NetworksAtaUllah Ghafoor0Muhammad Sher1Muhammad Imran2Abdelouahid Derhab3 Department of Computer Science, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan Department of Computer Science, National University of Modern Languages, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan King Saud University, P.O. Box 92144, Riyadh 11543, Saudi Arabia King Saud University, P.O. Box 92144, Riyadh 11543, Saudi ArabiaSecure key distribution is one of the most important building blocks to ensure confidentiality in wireless sensor and actor networks (WSANs). However, the key distribution becomes a challenging task when keys have to be relayed by compromised nodes in order to establish secure communication between distant nodes. To deal with this issue, we propose in this paper a key distribution scheme, named key distribution using fragmentation and assimilation (KDFA). In this scheme, the sender node splits the actual key into fragments and sends them through intermediate actor nodes towards the receiver node. The latter assimilates these key fragments using XOR operation to reconstruct the actual key. In this case, attacker cannot retrieve the actual key and only gets the key fragment. KDFA is composed of two parts: (a) key distribution protocol (KDP) to distribute the key using intra-actor and interactor communication scenarios and (b) key fragmentation algorithm (KFA) to slice the key using binary calculations. KDFA execution has been specified and formally verified using Rubin logic. Moreover, the performance and the resilience of the proposed protocol are further analyzed through extensive simulations using ns-2.35. Results show that KDFA is resilient against actor node compromise and key exposure.https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/542856
spellingShingle AtaUllah Ghafoor
Muhammad Sher
Muhammad Imran
Abdelouahid Derhab
Secure Key Distribution Using Fragmentation and Assimilation in Wireless Sensor and Actor Networks
International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks
title Secure Key Distribution Using Fragmentation and Assimilation in Wireless Sensor and Actor Networks
title_full Secure Key Distribution Using Fragmentation and Assimilation in Wireless Sensor and Actor Networks
title_fullStr Secure Key Distribution Using Fragmentation and Assimilation in Wireless Sensor and Actor Networks
title_full_unstemmed Secure Key Distribution Using Fragmentation and Assimilation in Wireless Sensor and Actor Networks
title_short Secure Key Distribution Using Fragmentation and Assimilation in Wireless Sensor and Actor Networks
title_sort secure key distribution using fragmentation and assimilation in wireless sensor and actor networks
url https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/542856
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