Secure web Push system

• Main Authors: Saride, Girija, Aaron, Jaya Balan, Bose, Joy
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Architecture; Authentication; Computer networks; Devices; Gateways (computers); Logic gates; Messages; Performance evaluation; Privacy; Security; Servers; Training; Web Push Notification
• ISSN: 2155-2509
• DOI: 10.1109/COMSNETS.2016.7439931

In existing push systems, there is no provision for additional security and the push messages from any content provider can be simply viewed by the user. This could cause problems in certain cases where additional security, privacy and authentication might be desirable before the user is allowed to view the push message, for example a message from the user's bank giving the current bank balance. In this paper we present a Smart Push system that ensures user security and privacy. Our push architecture incorporates a Gateway Client and Gateway Server component, enabling additional security measures and encryption of sent push messages at the gateway server before the messages reach the client device. In our system, a unique subscription Id is generated during the registration process, which hides the actual registration Id of the client device and thus ensures privacy. An additional spam filter at the gateway server further protects the client device from spam push messages. We present the architecture of the system and results of some tests performed to measure the effectiveness of the security aspects of the push architecture.