An Enhanced Lightweight IoT-based Authentication Scheme in Cloud Computing Circumstances

• Main Authors: Rafael Martínez-Peláez, Homero Toral-Cruz, Jorge R. Parra-Michel, Vicente García, Luis J. Mena, Vanessa G. Félix, Alberto Ochoa-Brust
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-05-01
• Series: Sensors
• Subjects: authentication; cloud computing; Internet of Things; mutual authentication; session key agreement
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/9/2098

With the rapid deployment of the Internet of Things and cloud computing, it is necessary to enhance authentication protocols to reduce attacks and security vulnerabilities which affect the correct performance of applications. In 2019 a new lightweight IoT-based authentication scheme in cloud computing circumstances was proposed. According to the authors, their protocol is secure and resists very well-known attacks. However, when we evaluated the protocol we found some security vulnerabilities and drawbacks, making the scheme insecure. Therefore, we propose a new version considering login, mutual authentication and key agreement phases to enhance the security. Moreover, we include a sub-phase called evidence of connection attempt which provides proof about the participation of the user and the server. The new scheme achieves the security requirements and resists very well-known attacks, improving previous works. In addition, the performance evaluation demonstrates that the new scheme requires less communication-cost than previous authentication protocols during the registration and login phases.