Identity-based key distribution for mobile Ad Hoc networks

Abstract

An identity-based cryptosystem can make a special contribution to building key distribution and management architectures in resource-constrained mobile ad hoc networks since it does not suffer from certificate management problems. In this paper, based on a lightweight cryptosystem, elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), we propose an identity-based distributed key-distribution protocol for mobile ad hoc networks. In this protocol, using secret sharing, we build a virtual private key generator which calculates one part of a user’s secret key and sends it to the user via public channels, while, the other part of the secret key is generated by the user. So, the secret key of the user is generated collaboratively by the virtual authority and the user. Each has half of the secret information about the secret key of the user. Thus there is no secret key distribution problem. In addition, the user’s secret key is known only to the user itself, therefore there is no key escrow.

Keywords

key distribution / Ad Hoc networks / identity-based cryptography

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Acknowledgments

This work was sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 60772136), the National Science and Technology Pillar Program (2008BAH22B03, 2007BAH08B01), the 111 Project (B08038), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (JY10000901032).

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg