Scalable authentication for consumer-side smart grid Internet of Things

As computing becomes ubiquitous, there is an increased interaction between the computing devices. The transformation of the Internet of Computers (IoC) into the Internet of Things (IoT) elicits the need to revisit security schemes and to ask questions about their scalability. The need for such questions is further motivated by the direct connection between these constrained devices and critical infrastructure like the smart grid. In this thesis we explore the scalability of smart grid consumer-side IoT. We look at how the extremely connected nature of IoT makes vulnerability blooms much easier and ask if existing solutions like X.509 certificates scale to large device populations. We also look at what information needs to be exchanged between devices in order to provide strong and secure authentication. The evaluation shows that existing schemes need to be given a second look and in the rush to deploy solutions one must not plaster such schemes onto the large population of devices that have been envisioned as a part of the new age of computers. In particular we find that certificate schemes like certificate revocation do not scale to large populations. We attempt to solve the problem by a HMAC-based scheme.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical & Computer Engr

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2017

Author dc:creator

• Palani, Kartik

Contributors dc:contributor

• Nicol, David M.

• Security
• Internet of things (IoT)
• Public key infrastructure (PKI)
• Certificates

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2016 Kartik Palani

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/95510

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/95510