The “Secure” Core of OpenThread
Border router, a.k.a. Edge Router is the core element to connect the Thread network with Cloud and Mobile devices via Wifi or Ethernet. From the out layer to the inner one, the Thread network is composed of end devices, routers, and border router. Let’s look into the definition of the components.
End device: It is located in the outermost layer of Thread network and inserted in devices, such as sensors to collect and transfer the data.
Router: Located in the middle layer of Thread network, it also collects and transfers data. More, it can transfer the data from the outermost layer. It functions not only as a sensor, but also as a bridge between the end device and the border router.
Border router: At the core of Thread network, it receives all the data and transfers them to Cloud or mobile devices by connecting Wifi or Ethernet.
However, with the border router, the security of data flow/ communication between the end devices to the Cloud cannot be guaranteed. The data collected by the end devices could be hacked or mistakenly altered by electricity loss or unstable signals. More, how could we ensure the data privacy is well-protected during the data transferring? This issue is particularly crucial for Smart Home and Smart City when human data are involved. According to M.A. Khan and K. Salah’s research in 2018, most of the IoT devices are easily hackable and compromising due to the limitations in computing, storage, and network capacity. Therefore, they are more vulnerable to attacks than other end devices such as smartphones, tablets, or computers.
PPKI (Pseudonymous Public Key Infrastructure), an integration of hybrid blockchain infrastructure with IoT technology is designed to address the security and privacy issues. It is firstly proposed and applied by Flowchain in blockchain technology and further practiced in IoT industries. PPKI authenticates IoT devices and ensures data security and data privacy in near real-time reaction. It provides a secure enough and fast authenticity system compared to the traditional PKI technologies which fit the needs of IoT. The traditional PKI would be expensive and consume tremendous computing power and energy, which might cause the IoT system paralysis. Therefore, Flowchain adopts the PPKI to the border router to create a secure environment for data communication cost-effectively.
How exactly does it work? We will introduce it in the next article with a clue here:
Flowchain USB Dongle + PPKI = Secure Data Flow
References
Khan, M.A. & Salah, K. (2018). IoT security: Review, blockchain solutions, and open challenges. Future Generation Computer Systems, 82, 395–411
Chen, J. (2018). Hybrid Blockchain and Pseudonymous Authentication for Secure and Trusted IoT Networks. ACM SIGBED Review, 15; 5, 22–28
