An Enhanced Lightweight IoT-based Authentication Scheme in Cloud Computing Circumstances

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Cybersecurity
• Network Security

Background:

• The proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing necessitates robust authentication protocols to mitigate security vulnerabilities.
• A previously proposed lightweight IoT-based authentication scheme in cloud computing was found to have security flaws despite claims of resistance to known attacks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose an enhanced version of an IoT-based authentication scheme for cloud computing environments.
• To address identified security vulnerabilities and improve the overall security and efficiency of the authentication process.

Main Methods:

• A new authentication scheme was developed, incorporating login, mutual authentication, and key agreement phases.
• An additional 'evidence of connection attempt' sub-phase was included to provide proof of user and server participation.
• Security analysis and performance evaluation were conducted to compare the proposed scheme with existing protocols.

Main Results:

• The enhanced scheme effectively resists well-known attacks, improving upon the security of the previous protocol.
• Performance evaluation indicated that the new scheme incurs lower communication costs during registration and login phases compared to prior protocols.
• The proposed scheme meets essential security requirements for IoT and cloud computing environments.

Conclusions:

• The developed authentication scheme offers a more secure and efficient solution for IoT and cloud computing environments.
• The inclusion of the 'evidence of connection attempt' sub-phase enhances accountability and security.
• The improved scheme represents a significant advancement over previous authentication protocols in terms of security and performance.