Automatic Key Update Mechanism for Lightweight M2M Communication and Enhancement of IoT Security: A Case Study of...

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Cybersecurity
• Network Engineering

Background:

• Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystems involve endpoint clients, network devices, and cloud servers, creating significant data transfer security concerns.
• Existing IoT networks often rely on static key authentication, which is insufficient for the growing demand for secure and timely information exchange.
• Lightweight machine-to-machine (M2M) communications require enhanced security measures for efficient and safe data transmission.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose and evaluate a novel key update mechanism, double one-time password (D-OTP), for IoT devices.
• To enhance security in IoT ecosystems by combining one-time password (OTP) and one-time pad (OTP) for theoretically unbreakable data transfers.
• To enable automatic key update mechanisms in resource-constrained IoT devices.

Main Methods:

• A new key update mechanism, D-OTP, was developed, integrating one-time password and one-time pad principles.
• The D-OTP mechanism was implemented within the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP) using the libcoap library.
• Experimental evaluations were conducted on 100 CoAP communication sessions to assess performance and security.

Main Results:

• The D-OTP mechanism provides theoretically unbreakable security for data transfers in IoT ecosystems.
• Implementation of D-OTP into CoAP resulted in an additional latency overhead of 8.93% across 100 communication sessions.
• The proposed mechanism effectively enhances security for lightweight M2M communications.

Conclusions:

• The D-OTP mechanism offers a robust solution for securing data transfers in IoT environments.
• The achieved security enhancement justifies the minor latency overhead in critical M2M communications.
• This approach advances the security standards for IoT networks and their applications.