TinyPK

TLDR

Wireless networks of miniaturized, low‑power sensor/actuator devices are poised for widespread use, yet their communication security is challenged by limited power, and PK technology was previously deemed too inefficient for such devices. The paper designs and implements public‑key protocols for authentication and key agreement between sensor networks and third parties. The protocols use RSA public operations, delegating expensive computations to external parties to keep sensor nodes lightweight. The protocols were successfully implemented on UC Berkeley MICA2 motes running TinyOS.

Abstract

Wireless networks of miniaturized, low-power sensor/actuator devices are poised to become widely used in commercial and military environments. The communication security problems for these networks are exacerbated by the limited power and energy of the sensor devices. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of public-key-(PK)-based protocols that allow authentication and key agreement between a sensor network and a third party as well as between two sensor networks. Our work is novel in that PK technology was commonly believed to be too inefficient for use on low-power devices. As part of our solution, we exploit the efficiency of public operations in the RSA cryptosystem and design protocols that place the computationally expensive operations on the parties external to the sensor network, when possible. Our protocols have been implemented on UC Berkeley MICA2 motes using the TinyOS development environment.