CELTIC GREEN-T SEC
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | PrimeKey Solutions AB |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 2 887 515 |
| Project duration | January 2012 - July 2014 |
| Status | Completed |
Purpose and goal
The goal with PrimeKey´s participation in CELTIC GREEN-T was to evaluate different authentication models and algorithms with respect to energy efficiency and personal integrity. The latter has become increasingly important after Edward Snowden´s report. Since CELTIC GREEN-T scenarios introduce new entities like WiFi hotspots and other terminals in the proximity, the ability providing users with suitable keys is a vital factor for success. Due to that the issuance system became a sub-project of its own.
Results and expected effects
To support personal integrity it seemed that algorithms which thwarts tracking of users moving in the radio-net landscape would be a good choice. We eventually selected a model with short-lived asymmetric keys in X.509 format which only vouches for group association. 24 hours validity maintains energy-efficiency without jeopardizing security. The issuance system has been publicly tested and have proved to work including the requirement supporting other applications such as virtual ID-cards, payment systems, etc. It is currently in production at a bank.
Approach and implementation
The authentication-methods were evaluated through models designed for the two main scenarios, handover to WiFi hotspot and local peer-to-peer connection between mobile devices. The main work has been studying the implications of the architectures and crypto-algorithms on the different criterions. The issuance-system has taken most of the resources because it has been developed to a level comparable to a standard, including protocol verification, public test-site and an associated client-emulator based on Android.