Using zero knowledge to share a little knowledge: Bootstrapping trust in device networks

Abstract

In device networks, trust must often be established in the field despite limited a priori knowledge of the network and the possibility of adversaries in the network environment. This paper presents a solution to the problem of bootstrapping trust that is minimal in the sense that it circumvents ongoing maintenance of security material. Specifically, security material is communicated to members of a device group just once by using zero knowledge identification in a new and efficient way, whereby devices in the group may henceforth securely verify each other as well as initialize mutual keys for confidentiality without needing to update that security material over time. In its basic form, the solution uses a base station to communicate the security material for group membership verification. The solution allows for scaling by letting the base station hierarchically delegate the task of bootstrapping to subordinate trusted nodes. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.