XKDCP: An Inter-KDC Protocol for Dependable Kerberos Cross-Realm Operations

Abstract

The wide popularity of Kerberos made it the de-facto standard for authentication in enterprise networks <br />Moreover, the lightweight nature of Kerberos makes it a candidate of choice for securing network communications in emerging non-enterprise information systems such as industrial control networks, building automation and intelligent transportation systems. Many of these potential applications of Kerberos involve infrastructures characterized by their large scale and strict dependability requirements. However, such requirements may not be met when crossrealm Kerberos operations are involved. In this paper, we outline the issues with the current Kerberos crossrealm model and present XKDCP (Inter Key Distribution Center Protocol), a new Kerberos cross-realm authentication model that improves on scalability and dependability by (1) relying on public key cryptography to dynamically maintain direct trust relationships between Kerberos realms and (2) adopting a proxy model to offload inter-domain exchanges and processing from the low-end devices to the Kerberos authentication servers

Design of Authentication Model Preserving Intimacy and Trust in Intelligent Environments

“…A database of principals is maintained and secret keys are shared between authority and each one of principals. The protocol realizes user's access to offered services in three types of exchanges developed in three types of operations: the protocol exchanges include the Authentication Server (AS) exchange, the Ticket Granting Service (TGS) exchange and the Server Provider (AP) exchange [16]. The process is shown in figure 4.…”

“…It has several characteristics that make it an ideal candidate for implementing authentication systems for ubiquitous applications. Two of the main characteristics consist of re-use of cached security credentials and the use of lightweight symmetric key cryptography [16]. Key management can be based on trust relationships [14].…”

“…To ensure the dependability of ubiquitous applications, network services upon which these applications are built must be robust and embed dependability paradigms in their design. When adopting legacy network services, it is essential to take in consideration the new requirements of the ubiquitous computing environment [16].…”