An assisted device registration and service access system for future home networks

Abstract

Abstract-In today's home networks security features are very rare. Infact, the only service that is usually secured is the access to the wireless network. Services, such as video streaming and audio distribution systems, often use the popular UPnP protocol since it provides dynamic service discovery and is supported by the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA). However, UPnP implements no security features which is not only a problem for today's services, but especially for future services in future home networks. Part of the problem is the complexity and the effort that is needed for maintaining a security infrastructure and for the deployment of security mechanisms that are common in administrated enterprise networks. This paper addresses the problem stated above by introducing an assistance system that allows for the easy and almost automatic issuing and distribution of valid X.509 certificates to new devices. We then use these certificates for controlling network access and for the design and implementation of a secure video streaming system based on the Devices Profile for Web Services (DPWS). This system shows that certificates not only help within a home, but are absolutely mandatory when interconnecting multiple homes.

A secure service infrastructure for interconnecting future home networks based on DPWS and XACML

“…To prove that our system works as expected, the DPWS video streaming solutions as described in [8] serves as a reference example for an application that is built upon DPWS. In our opinion, video/audio streaming is one of the most important applications for future home networks and as bandwidth grows, multi domain scenarios are most likely to appear.…”

“…In [8] we proposed a security framework for home networks, which acts as the cornerstone for our approach in this paper. The basic idea is that each home runs a local CA with self-signed certificates and manages all devices, services and users belonging to that home in an automated way.…”

“…Thus, future home networks need a solid security infrastructure that on the one hand provides enough security and on the other hand is easy to use and easy to administrate. A cornerstone for such a solution was presented in [8].…”

Collecting router information for error diagnosis and troubleshooting in home networks

“…As shown in Figure 1, the key should be given to the trusted helper via a second (secure) channel, such as by phone or in an encrypted e-mail. For this purpose it would be very useful to have an infrastructure in place which allows establishing and maintaining trust relationship between different home networks, such as the one presented in [1] and [12].…”

Personal PKI for the Smart Device Era

“…Home and personal area networks have been researched and developed to manage the personal usage of multiple computers [1,2,3,4]. These typically focus on creating secure networks of devices that are co-located either physically or logically, such as on a home wireless network.…”