A Universally Composable Key Exchange Framework for Operational Technology Communication Protocols

Abubakar Sadiq Sani; Elisa Bertino; Dong Yuan; Zhao Yang Dong

doi:10.1109/SmartGridComm57358.2023.10333944

A Universally Composable Key Exchange Framework for Operational Technology Communication Protocols

Abubakar Sadiq Sani^*
, Elisa Bertino
, Dong Yuan
, Zhao Yang Dong

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works › RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication) › peer-review

Abstract

Many real-world communication protocols in Operational Technology (OT) are prone to cyber attacks due to the absence of dedicated key exchange and inability to satisfy all key exchange properties such as mutual authentication, key secrecy, and key confirmation. Besides these deficiencies, the security of communications in the OT is severely lacking at least one of the communication security properties such as data integrity, data confidentiality, and data availability. In this paper, we propose to enhance OT communication protocols via a secure key exchange framework for satisfying the key exchange and communication security properties based on universal composability, which provides modular design and analysis of cryptographic protocols in the presence of an adversary. Our framework comprises an ideal crypto-ops functionality (F_cl) for modelling and satisfying the key exchange and communication security properties. We analyse the security of our framework using the Automated Validation of Internet of Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA) tool. Furthermore, we illustrate the usefulness of our framework by fixing one of the most widely used real-world OT communication protocols, namely WirelessHART. © 2023 IEEE.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2023 IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm)
Subtitle of host publication	Proceedings
Publisher	IEEE
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	978-1-6654-5556-5, 978-1-6654-5555-8
ISBN (Print)	9781665455541, 978-1-6654-5557-2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/SmartGridComm57358.2023.10333944
Publication status	Published - 2023
Externally published	Yes
Event	14th IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm 2023) - University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom Duration: 31 Oct 2023 → 3 Nov 2023 https://sgc2023.ieee-smartgridcomm.org/

Publication series

Name	IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids, SmartGridComm - Proceedings
ISSN (Print)	2373-6836
ISSN (Electronic)	2474-2902

Conference

Conference	14th IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm 2023)
Place	United Kingdom
City	Glasgow
Period	31/10/23 → 3/11/23
Internet address	https://sgc2023.ieee-smartgridcomm.org/

Research Keywords

communication protocols
communication security
key exchange
operational technology
universal composability

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10.1109/SmartGridComm57358.2023.10333944

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Sani, A. S., Bertino, E., Yuan, D., & Dong, Z. Y. (2023). A Universally Composable Key Exchange Framework for Operational Technology Communication Protocols. In 2023 IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm): Proceedings (IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids, SmartGridComm - Proceedings). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/SmartGridComm57358.2023.10333944

Sani, Abubakar Sadiq ; Bertino, Elisa ; Yuan, Dong et al. / A Universally Composable Key Exchange Framework for Operational Technology Communication Protocols. 2023 IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm): Proceedings. IEEE, 2023. (IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids, SmartGridComm - Proceedings).

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title = "A Universally Composable Key Exchange Framework for Operational Technology Communication Protocols",

abstract = "Many real-world communication protocols in Operational Technology (OT) are prone to cyber attacks due to the absence of dedicated key exchange and inability to satisfy all key exchange properties such as mutual authentication, key secrecy, and key confirmation. Besides these deficiencies, the security of communications in the OT is severely lacking at least one of the communication security properties such as data integrity, data confidentiality, and data availability. In this paper, we propose to enhance OT communication protocols via a secure key exchange framework for satisfying the key exchange and communication security properties based on universal composability, which provides modular design and analysis of cryptographic protocols in the presence of an adversary. Our framework comprises an ideal crypto-ops functionality (Fcl) for modelling and satisfying the key exchange and communication security properties. We analyse the security of our framework using the Automated Validation of Internet of Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA) tool. Furthermore, we illustrate the usefulness of our framework by fixing one of the most widely used real-world OT communication protocols, namely WirelessHART. {\textcopyright} 2023 IEEE.",

keywords = "communication protocols, communication security, key exchange, operational technology, universal composability",

author = "Sani, \{Abubakar Sadiq\} and Elisa Bertino and Dong Yuan and Dong, \{Zhao Yang\}",

year = "2023",

doi = "10.1109/SmartGridComm57358.2023.10333944",

language = "English",

isbn = "9781665455541",

series = "IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids, SmartGridComm - Proceedings",

publisher = "IEEE",

booktitle = "2023 IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm)",

address = "United States",

note = "14th IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm 2023) ; Conference date: 31-10-2023 Through 03-11-2023",

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}

Sani, AS, Bertino, E, Yuan, D & Dong, ZY 2023, A Universally Composable Key Exchange Framework for Operational Technology Communication Protocols. in 2023 IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm): Proceedings. IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids, SmartGridComm - Proceedings, IEEE, 14th IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm 2023), Glasgow, United Kingdom, 31/10/23. https://doi.org/10.1109/SmartGridComm57358.2023.10333944

A Universally Composable Key Exchange Framework for Operational Technology Communication Protocols. / Sani, Abubakar Sadiq; Bertino, Elisa; Yuan, Dong et al.
2023 IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm): Proceedings. IEEE, 2023. (IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids, SmartGridComm - Proceedings).

Research output: Chapters, Conference Papers, Creative and Literary Works › RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication) › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - A Universally Composable Key Exchange Framework for Operational Technology Communication Protocols

AU - Sani, Abubakar Sadiq

AU - Bertino, Elisa

AU - Yuan, Dong

AU - Dong, Zhao Yang

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Many real-world communication protocols in Operational Technology (OT) are prone to cyber attacks due to the absence of dedicated key exchange and inability to satisfy all key exchange properties such as mutual authentication, key secrecy, and key confirmation. Besides these deficiencies, the security of communications in the OT is severely lacking at least one of the communication security properties such as data integrity, data confidentiality, and data availability. In this paper, we propose to enhance OT communication protocols via a secure key exchange framework for satisfying the key exchange and communication security properties based on universal composability, which provides modular design and analysis of cryptographic protocols in the presence of an adversary. Our framework comprises an ideal crypto-ops functionality (Fcl) for modelling and satisfying the key exchange and communication security properties. We analyse the security of our framework using the Automated Validation of Internet of Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA) tool. Furthermore, we illustrate the usefulness of our framework by fixing one of the most widely used real-world OT communication protocols, namely WirelessHART. © 2023 IEEE.

AB - Many real-world communication protocols in Operational Technology (OT) are prone to cyber attacks due to the absence of dedicated key exchange and inability to satisfy all key exchange properties such as mutual authentication, key secrecy, and key confirmation. Besides these deficiencies, the security of communications in the OT is severely lacking at least one of the communication security properties such as data integrity, data confidentiality, and data availability. In this paper, we propose to enhance OT communication protocols via a secure key exchange framework for satisfying the key exchange and communication security properties based on universal composability, which provides modular design and analysis of cryptographic protocols in the presence of an adversary. Our framework comprises an ideal crypto-ops functionality (Fcl) for modelling and satisfying the key exchange and communication security properties. We analyse the security of our framework using the Automated Validation of Internet of Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA) tool. Furthermore, we illustrate the usefulness of our framework by fixing one of the most widely used real-world OT communication protocols, namely WirelessHART. © 2023 IEEE.

KW - communication protocols

KW - communication security

KW - key exchange

KW - operational technology

KW - universal composability

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UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/pubmetrics.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85180789576&origin=recordpage

U2 - 10.1109/SmartGridComm57358.2023.10333944

DO - 10.1109/SmartGridComm57358.2023.10333944

M3 - RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (with host publication)

SN - 9781665455541

SN - 978-1-6654-5557-2

T3 - IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids, SmartGridComm - Proceedings

BT - 2023 IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm)

PB - IEEE

T2 - 14th IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm 2023)

Y2 - 31 October 2023 through 3 November 2023

ER -

Sani AS, Bertino E, Yuan D, Dong ZY. A Universally Composable Key Exchange Framework for Operational Technology Communication Protocols. In 2023 IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm): Proceedings. IEEE. 2023. (IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids, SmartGridComm - Proceedings). Epub 2023 Dec 6. doi: 10.1109/SmartGridComm57358.2023.10333944

A Universally Composable Key Exchange Framework for Operational Technology Communication Protocols

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