Establishing and validating secured keys for IoT devices: using P3 connection model on a cloud-based architecture

• Published in: International journal of information security 2022-06, Vol.21 (3), p.427-436
• Main Authors: Bhattacharjya, Sairath, Saiedian, Hossein
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cloud computing; Coding and Information Theory; Communication; Communications Engineering; Computer Communication Networks; Computer Science; Cryptography; Cryptology; Curves; Electronic devices; Internet of Things; Management of Computing and Information Systems; Network security; Networks; Operating Systems; Plugs; Regular Contribution
• ISSN: 1615-5262; 1615-5270
• DOI: 10.1007/s10207-021-00562-7

IoT devices are slowly turning out to be an essential part of our everyday lives. These devices perform one operation, and they specialize in doing so. When communicating with these devices, we need to set up a secured key preventing unauthorized communications. We have been using the plug-and-play model for electronic devices for decades. These IoT devices fall into the same realm. The plug–pair–play connection model follows the same principle so that the user does not feel the added pressure of remembering a complex password or rely on a default credential. It helps to generate a secret that is only known to the device and its user. We used elliptic curve cryptography to circumvent the resource limitations on the device. The model establishes a zero-trust pattern where all requests and responses are validated and verified before being processed. This paper provides a unique way to set up a secret key for each user and device pair without much user interaction. The model sets the path to end-to-end secured communication.