Distance-bounding protocols

Abstract

It is often the case in applications of cryptographic protocols that one partv would like to determine a practical upper-bound on the physical distance to the other party. For instance, when a person conducts a cryptographic identification protocol at an entrance to a building, the access control computer in the building would like to be ensured that the person giving the responses is no more than a few meters away. The “distance bounding” technique we introduce solves this problem by timing the delay between sending out a challenge bit and receiving back the corresponding response bit. It can be integrated into common identification protocols. The technique can also be applied in the three-party setting of “wallets with observers” in such a way that the intermediary partv can prevent the other two from exchanging information, or even developing common coinflips.