An Edge-Fog Secure Self-Authenticable Data Transfer Protocol

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Network Security
• Internet of Things

Background:

• Constrained devices in the Internet of Things (IoT) face challenges with traditional internet protocols due to limited resources.
• Existing security protocols are often unsuitable for resource-constrained devices, necessitating new approaches like Fog computing.
• Fog computing facilitates communication between constrained Edge nodes and less-constrained Fog nodes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel lightweight secure self-authenticable transfer protocol (SSATP) for Edge-Fog node communication.
• To propose SSATP as a secure transport layer for the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP), replacing UDP and DTLS.
• To enhance data security and reliability for constrained devices in the IoT.

Main Methods:

• Developed a new protocol, SSATP, modifying standard UDP packet headers for enhanced data transfer and authentication.
• Integrated SSATP as a transport protocol for CoAP, targeting communication between Edge and Fog nodes.
• Incorporated optional redundant data within SSATP for improved resilience in lossy network conditions.

Main Results:

• Experimental results indicate SSATP outperforms UDP with DTLS in scenarios using CoAP block transfer.
• SSATP demonstrates superior performance in lossy network environments compared to traditional UDP/DTLS.
• The protocol effectively handles data flow management and user data authentication for constrained devices.

Conclusions:

• SSATP presents a viable and efficient lightweight security solution for constrained IoT devices within a Fog computing architecture.
• The protocol is particularly beneficial for CoAP communication in challenging network conditions, such as block transfers and high packet loss.
• SSATP offers a promising alternative for securing IoT communications, addressing the limitations of existing protocols.