BlinkToSCoAP: An end-to-end security framework for the Internet of Things

Abstract

The emergence of Internet of Things and the availability of inexpensive sensor devices and platforms capable of wireless communications enable a wide range of applications such as intelligent home and building automation, mobile healthcare, smart logistics, distributed monitoring, smart grids, energy management, asset tracking to name a few. These devices are expected to employ Constrained Application Protocol for the integration of such applications with the Internet, which includes User Datagram Protocol binding with Datagram Transport Layer Security protocol to provide end-to-end security. This paper presents a framework called BlinkToSCoAP, obtained through the integration of three software libraries implementing lightweight versions of DTLS, CoAP and 6LoWPAN protocols over TinyOS. Furthermore, a detailed experimental campaign is presented that evaluates the performance of DTLS security blocks. The experiments analyze BlinkToSCoAP messages exchanged between two Zolertia Z1 devices, allowing evaluations in terms of memory footprint, energy consumption, latency and packet overhead. The results obtained indicate that securing CoAP with DTLS in Internet of Things is certainly feasible without incurring much overhead.