Improving secure device insertion in home ad hoc networks

Abstract

Home ad hoc networks are sets of devices that self-configure and interact to offer enhanced services to their users. These networks are heterogeneous, dynamic and fully decentralized. Moreover, they generally lack a skilled administrator. These properties dramatically reduce the efficiency of classical security approaches: even defining the boundaries of such networks can be difficult. A way to solve this problem has been recently proposed, using the concept of secure long-term communities. This solution relies on one critical operation: the secure insertion of a device in the home ad hoc network. In this article, we propose two ways to improve this operation, using store-and-forward techniques. The first improvement deals with the ability to achieve insertion under loose connectivity circumstances. The other improvement deals with the ability for the user to use any trusted device in order to realize the insertion, especially in heterogeneous networks. © 2004 by Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.