Research Summaries

Back Secure Communication for Contested Environments

Fiscal Year 2022
Division Research & Sponsored Programs
Department Naval Research Program
Investigator(s) Hale, Britta J.
Sponsor NPS Naval Research Program (Navy)
Summary Many current communication channels rely largely on interactive cryptographic protocols to establish security. These protocols require real-time round-trips of synchronous interaction between devices and makes them susceptible to channel-tear down by adversaries as well as environmental effects ¿ subsequently leading to additional set-up time and increased electromagnetic footprint. Within a contested environment, such protocol use presents physical vulnerabilities to logistics due to the increased location detectability from the electromagnetic footprint as well as cyber security vulnerabilities. In particular, if an adversary compromises the communications channel, they can gain long-term access to the data. This research looks at addressing this problem through use of secure asynchronous protocols. Protocols supporting asynchronicity limit downtime, offering efficiency benefits under restricted communication. They furthermore have potentially attractive security features such as self-healing security in the event of adversarial compromise of a communications channel. This research applies CAC2S as a case study, framing the environment concerns to the contested restrictions anticipated.
Keywords C2 COMMS Contested Enviornment Cryptography Secure C2
Publications Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal
Data Publications, theses (not shown) and data repositories will be added to the portal record when information is available in FAIRS and brought back to the portal