Secure and Fast In-Band Wireless Device Pairing with Swipe2Pair

Core Concepts

Swipe2Pair is a novel in-band wireless device pairing scheme that provides secure mutual authentication and high usability through proximity-based pairing and randomized wireless transmission power.

Abstract

The paper proposes Swipe2Pair, a secure and fast in-band wireless device pairing scheme that leverages the proximity of pairing devices and randomization of wireless transmission power to achieve mutual authentication without the need for extra sensors or hardware.
The key highlights are:

Swipe2Pair does not require any auxiliary out-of-band channels or sensors, making it a universal solution that can run on IoT devices with standard wireless interfaces.

It provides a simple and fast pairing process that only requires a quick swipe of one device in front of the other, taking less than 1 second to complete.

Swipe2Pair achieves mutual authentication by exploiting the intrinsic channel fading properties - a remote attacker experiences higher fading channel variations than the adjacent pairing devices.

The authors conduct a thorough security analysis to assess the scheme's robustness against different types of attackers, from general to advanced and supreme attackers with the capability to accurately infer the location and motion of pairing devices.

Extensive experiments are carried out in various environments to validate the security and usability of Swipe2Pair, demonstrating its effectiveness in providing secure and fast wireless device pairing.

Stats

The average time to complete the Swipe2Pair pairing process is less than 1 second.

Quotes

"Swipe2Pair achieves high security and usability. It only takes less than one second to complete the pairing process with a simple swipe of one device in front of the other."

Key Insights Distilled From

Swipe2Pair: Secure and Fast In-Band Wireless Device Pairing

by Yaqi He (1),... at arxiv.org 05-07-2024

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2405.03045.pdf

Deeper Inquiries

How could Swipe2Pair be extended to support device pairing in more complex environments, such as crowded public spaces or outdoor settings with line-of-sight obstructions

To extend Swipe2Pair for more complex environments, such as crowded public spaces or outdoor settings with line-of-sight obstructions, several enhancements can be considered:

Dynamic Power Adjustment: Implement a mechanism for devices to dynamically adjust their transmission power based on the surrounding environment. This can help optimize the communication range and reliability in crowded areas or when facing obstacles.

Multi-Channel Communication: Introduce the capability for devices to switch between different communication channels or frequencies to mitigate interference and improve connectivity in challenging environments.

Adaptive Pathloss Modeling: Develop algorithms that can adaptively model the pathloss characteristics in diverse environments, taking into account factors like multipath propagation, reflections, and signal attenuation due to obstacles.

Machine Learning-based Optimization: Utilize machine learning algorithms to analyze the wireless channel characteristics in real-time and optimize the pairing process based on the specific environmental conditions encountered.

Collaborative Pairing: Enable devices to collaborate with nearby trusted devices to enhance the pairing process, leveraging collective information to establish secure connections even in complex scenarios.

By incorporating these enhancements, Swipe2Pair can be tailored to handle the complexities of varied environments, ensuring reliable and secure device pairing in challenging settings.

What are the potential limitations or edge cases of the channel fading variation check, and how could the protocol be further improved to address them

The channel fading variation check in Swipe2Pair, while effective in detecting remote attackers with significant channel variations, may have limitations in certain scenarios:

Noise Sensitivity: The check may be sensitive to noise or fluctuations in the wireless channel, leading to false positives or negatives in the authentication process.

Environmental Changes: Variations in the environment, such as moving obstacles or changing interference patterns, could impact the channel fading characteristics and potentially affect the accuracy of the check.

Extreme Distance Cases: In scenarios where the distance between devices is extremely large, the channel fading variation may not provide a reliable indicator of proximity due to the inherent nature of wireless signal propagation.

To address these limitations, the protocol can be further improved by:

Advanced Signal Processing Techniques: Implement advanced signal processing algorithms to filter out noise and enhance the robustness of the channel fading variation check.
Environmental Adaptation: Develop mechanisms to adapt the authentication criteria based on real-time environmental feedback, ensuring resilience to dynamic changes.
Threshold Optimization: Fine-tune the threshold values used in the channel fading variation check to balance sensitivity and specificity across different operating conditions.
By refining the channel fading variation check and incorporating adaptive mechanisms, Swipe2Pair can improve its resilience to edge cases and enhance overall security performance.

Given the increasing prevalence of wireless devices, how might Swipe2Pair's principles of proximity-based pairing and randomized transmission power be applied to other wireless security and authentication challenges beyond device pairing

The principles of proximity-based pairing and randomized transmission power in Swipe2Pair can be applied to various wireless security and authentication challenges beyond device pairing:

Access Control Systems: Implementing proximity-based authentication for access control systems in secure facilities, where authorized personnel can gain entry by simply swiping their devices in proximity to a reader.

Payment Systems: Enhancing the security of contactless payment systems by incorporating randomized transmission power to prevent unauthorized access and ensure secure transactions.

Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Communication: Utilizing proximity-based pairing in vehicle-to-infrastructure communication networks to establish secure connections between vehicles and roadside units for traffic management and safety applications.

Healthcare IoT Devices: Securing communication between medical IoT devices and patient monitoring systems through proximity-based authentication, ensuring data privacy and integrity in healthcare settings.

By applying the principles of Swipe2Pair to these diverse scenarios, organizations can enhance the security of their wireless systems and establish robust authentication mechanisms for a wide range of applications.