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A Novel Protocol for Security of Location Based Services in Multi-agent Systems

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Abstract

Multi-agent systems are automated form of software technology to enhance many applications in our life. However, this technology does not come along with embedded security features which hindering its widespread usage in commercial systems such as those that depend on location-based services. This paper aims to design, develop, test and evaluate an efficient security protocol for the multi-agent system to support the secrecy of user location. At first, we have developed a new architectural approach, inspired by the well-known Kerberos protocol, that can provide a secure service for the end users. It offers the most important security requirements in this field, namely; mutual authentication, confidentiality, integrity, and authorization. The proposed security protocol so-called Multi-Agent Security using Enhanced Kerberos has been verified and validated using a formal verification tool called ProVerif. Also, we provide a comparison with the original Kerberos protocol in terms of efficiency, which tilts the balance to our protocol.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Cyber-Physical Systems, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Hussam Al-Hamadi

  2. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Chan Yeob Yeun, Mohamed Jamal Zemerly, Mahmoud Al-Qutayri, Amjad Gawanmeh, Yousof Al-Hammadi & Ernesto Damiani

Authors
  1. Hussam Al-Hamadi
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  2. Chan Yeob Yeun
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  3. Mohamed Jamal Zemerly
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  5. Amjad Gawanmeh
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  6. Yousof Al-Hammadi
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Correspondence to Hussam Al-Hamadi.

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Appendix: ProVerif Outputs for Our Case Study

Appendix: ProVerif Outputs for Our Case Study

1.1 Mutual Authentication Verification Result

Process name

The queries

ProVerif output

SP login

BeginAS() ==> BeginSA()

All true

EndSA() ==> EndAS()

EndSA()==>BeginSA()&&BeginAS()

Client login

BeginAC() ==> BeginAC()

All true

EndCA() ==> EndAC()

EndCA()==>BeginCA()&& BeginAC()

Change SP password

BPchgAS() ==> BPchgSA()

All true

EPchgSA() ==> EPchgAS()

EPchSA()==> BPchgSA()&& BPchgAS()

Change client password

BPchgAC() ==> BPchgCA()

All true

EPchgCA() ==> EPchgAC()

EPchgCA() ==> BPchgCA()&& BPchgAC())

Update SP agent location

BuLTS() ==> BuLST()

All true

EuLST() ==> EuLTS()

EuLST()==>BuLST()&& BuLTS()

A request from the client agent

BeginTC() ==> BeginCT()

All true

EndCT() ==> EndTC()

EndCT()==> BeginCT()&& BeginTC()

A response from the SP agent

BeginSC() ==> BeginCS()

All true

EndCS() ==> EndCS()

EndCS() ==> BeginCS()&& BeginSC()

Communication between the client and SP agents

BcomSC() ==> BcomCS()

All true

EcomCS() ==> EcomSC()

EcomCS()==> BcomCS())&& BcomSC()

1.2 Confidentiality Verification Result

Process name

Parameters

ProVerif output

SP login

N6, t6, \(K_{SP,TGS}\), N7 and location)

All secure

Client login

N1, t1, \(K_{C,TGS}\)

All secure

Change SP password

H(new password), N8

All secure

Change client password

H(new password), N2

All secure

Update SP agent location

Location and N9

All secure

A request from the client agent

N3, \(t_C\), t2, \(K_{C,TGS}\), location and request

All secure

A response from the SP agent

N3, t2, U(\(t_C\)), \(K_{C,SP}\) and result

All secure

Communication between the client and SP agents

Request, result and N4

All secure

Client agent logout

N5, t4 and t5

All secure

SP agent logout

N10 and t7

All secure

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Al-Hamadi, H., Yeun, C.Y., Zemerly, M.J. et al. A Novel Protocol for Security of Location Based Services in Multi-agent Systems. Wireless Pers Commun 108, 1841–1868 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-019-06499-4

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