Category: Recent works

Traditionally, card emulation mode in Near Field Communication devices makes use of a hardware Secure Element (SE) as a secure storage and execution environment for applications. However, a different way of card emulation that bypasses the SE has emerged, referred to as Host-based Card Emulation (HCE). HCE relies on the phone CPU for processing power, sharing it with other running processes. This produces variable readings in terms of response times from the phone. This paper investigates this variability in HCE implementation as compared to an SE implementation. We also discuss how our findings may call into question the use of HCE in time critical scenarios.

Abstract Multi-application smart card technology has gained momentum due to the Near Field Communication (NFC) and smart phone revolution. Enabling multiple applications from different application providers on a single smart card is not a new concept. Multi-application smart cards have been around since the late 1990s; however, uptake was severely limited. {NFC} has recently reinvigorated the multi-application initiative and this time around a number of innovative deployment models are proposed. Such models include Trusted Service Manager (TSM), User Centric Smart Card Ownership Model (UCOM) and GlobalPlatform Consumer-Centric Model (GP-CCM). In this paper, we discuss two of the most widely accepted and deployed smart card management architectures in the smart card industry: GlobalPlatform and Multos. We explain how these architectures do not fully comply with the {UCOM} and GP-CCM. We then describe our novel flexible consumer-centric card management architecture designed specifically for the {UCOM} and GP-CCM frameworks, along with ways of integrating the {TSM} model into the proposed card management architecture. Finally, we discuss four new security issues inherent to any architecture in this context along with the countermeasures for our proposed architecture.

In automotive design process, safety has always been the main concern. However, in modern days, security is also seen as an important aspect in vehicle communication especially where connectivity is very widely available. In this paper, we are going to discuss the threats and vulnerabilities of a CAN bus network. After we have considered a number of risk analysis methods, we decided to use FMEA. The analysis process allowed us to derive the security requirements of a CAN bus. Experimental setup of CAN bus communication network were implemented and analysed.

Fair-exchange and anonymity are two important attributes in e-commerce. It is much more difficult to expect fairness in e-commerce transactions using Bitcoin due to anonymity and transaction irreversibility. Genuine consumers and merchants who would like to make and receive payments using Bitcoin may be reluctant to do so due to this uncertainty. The proposed protocol guarantees strong-fairness while preserving anonymity of the consumer and the merchant, using Bitcoin as a payment method which addresses the aforementioned concern. The involvement of the trusted third party (TTP) is kept to a minimum, which makes the protocol optimistic and the exchanged product is not revealed to TTP. It achieves dispute resolution within the protocol run without any intervention of an external judge. Finally we show how the protocol can be easily adapted to use other digital cash systems designed using public ledgers such as Zerocoin/Zerocash.

Although Radio Frequency IDentifi cation (RFID) systems promise a fruitful future, security and privacy concerns have affected the adoption of the RFID technology. Several studies have been proposed to tackle the RFID security and privacy concerns under the as- sumption that the server is secure. In this paper, we assume that the server resides in the cloud, which might be insecure. Hence, the tag’s data might be prone to privacy invasion and attacks. Xie et al. proposed a new scheme called cloud-based RFID authentication, which aimed to address the security and privacy concerns of RFID tag’s data in the cloud. In this paper, we showed that Xie et al. protocol is vulnerable to reader impersonation attacks, location tracking and tag’s data privacy invasion. Therefore, we proposed a new protocol that guarantees that the tag’s data in the cloud are anonymous, and cannot be compro- mised. Furthermore, the proposed protocol achieves mutual authentication between all the entities participating in a communication session, such as a cloud server, a reader and a tag. Finally, we analysed the proposed protocol informally and formally using a privacy model and CasperFDR. The results indicate that the proposed protocol achieves data secrecy and authentication for RFID tags.

Near Field Communication (NFC) mobile phones can be used as payment devices and can emulate credit cards. Although NFC mobile services promise a fruitful future, several issues have been raised by academics and researchers. Among the main concerns for the use and deployment of NFC-enabled mobile phones is the potential loss of security and privacy. More specifically, mobile phone users involved in a payment transaction conducted over a mobile handset require that such a system does not reveal their identity or any sensitive data. Furthermore, that all entities participating in the transaction are legitimate. To this end, we proposed a protocol that meets the mobile user’ requirements. The proposed protocol attempts to address the main security concerns and protects the customer privacy from any third party involved in the transaction. We formally analysed the protocol using CasperFDR and did not find any feasible attacks.

Near Field Communication (NFC) enables a mobile phone to emulate a contactless smart card. This has reinvigorated the multiapplication smart card initiative. Trusted Service Manager (TSM) is an entity that is trusted by all stakeholders in the proposed and trialled NFC-based smart card ecosystem. However, TSM-based models have the potential to create market segregation that might lead to limited or slow adoption. In addition, all major stakeholders (e.g. Telecom and banks) are pushing for their own TSM models and this might hinder deployment. In this paper we present a Collaborative and Ubiquitous Consumer Oriented Trusted Service Manager (CO-TSM)-based model that combines different TSM models while providing scalability to the overall architecture. In addition, our proposal also provides flexibility to both consumers and application providers. To support our proposal, we present a core architecture based on two contrasting approaches: the Issuer Centric Smart Card Ownership Model (ICOM) and the User Centric Smart Card Ownership Model (UCOM). Based on the core architecture, we then describe our proposal for an application download framework and a secure channel protocol. Finally, the implementation experience and performance measurements for the secure channel protocol are discussed.

Creating security architectures and processes that directly interact with consumers, especially in consumer electronics, has to take into account usability, user-experience and skill level. Smart cards provide secure services, even in malicious environments, to end-users with a fairly straightforward limited usage pattern that even an ordinary user can easily deal with. The way the smart card industry achieves this is by limiting users’ interactions and privileges on the smart cards they carry around and use to access different services. This centralised control has been the key to providing secure and reliable services through smart cards, while keeping the smart cards fairly useable for end-users. However, as smart cards have permeated into every aspect of modern life, users have ended up carrying multiple cards to perform mundane tasks, making smart card-based services a cumbersome experience. User Centric Smart Cards (UCSC) enable users to have all the services they might be accessing using traditional smart cards on a single device that is under their control. Giving “freedom of choice” to users increases their privileges, but the design requirement is to maintain the same level of security and reliability as traditional architectures while giving better user experience. In this paper, we will discuss the challenges faced by the UCSC proposal in balancing security with usability and “freedom of choice”, and how it has resolved them.