Building Trustworthy Mesh Networks: Why Security and Fault-Tolerance Must Be Considered Together

Опубликовано 6 сентября 2016, 6:10

Mesh networks were proposed as a promising low cost, easy to deploy network architecture for wired and wireless networks. Mesh overlays provide the ideal setting to react quickly to fluctuating performance, use application-specific metrics when selecting paths, and support concurrent data flows over multiple paths. In addition, in the context of wireless communication, mesh networks offer increased coverage and larger bandwidth, resulting in higher quality of service and information availability. Providing secure and uninterrupted service within acceptable performance parameters is challenging in a complex network environment, as computers get so easily compromised and trust is pushed to the end-nodes. Any compromised computer gives to an attacker access to all cryptographic keys stored on that computer and the opportunity to attack the system from inside. In this talk we show the effect one or several compromised nodes in the mesh can have on the mesh construction and management, preventing it from delivering the promised service. We show why although necessary, cryptographic techniques such as data integrity, authentication and confidentiality are not enough to defend against insider attacks. We emphasize why, in order to build trustworthy mesh networks, it is essential to understand the way security and fault-tolerance can work together or may work against each other. We propose some solutions and discuss their benefits and limitations, in different network contexts and applications.