Wireless Networking Concepts For WPAN Technology

Compare and Contrast Three Data Encryption Standards for Wi-MAX Networks

Discuss about the Wireless Networking Concepts for WPAN Technology.

Table 1. Comparision of, 3DES, AES and RSA9+6

PARAMETERS	3DES	AES Save Time On Research and Writing Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper. Get My Paper	RSA
Definition	DES is a kind of WI-MAX networks. DES stands for data encryption standard cipher algorithm. It is a 56 bit key (SHARMA, 2014). Data encryption alone may not be sufficient. So the DES key size will be extended. Three different keys will be used for this purpose.  It does it by three times applying succession algorithm.	AES is a kind of WI-MAX networks. AES stands for Advanced Encryption Standard algorithm. While encryption and decryption process, data and key length may vary based on many factors and AES supports all of them.	RSA is kind of WI-MAX networks. RSA stands for Rivest-Shamir-Adleman is a well-known public key encryption of blocks of data key exchange encrptosystems. It has two private keys i.e., public and private keys.
Key Length	3×56 = 168 is the combined key size. K1, K2, K3 are used while TDEA is in EDE (Encrypt-Decrypt-Encrypt) mode. The plain text is encrypt K1 and decrypt with K2 and encrypt with K3.It is mutually independent keys with space 3×56 = 168 bits and also have two mutually independent keys, the third key same as the first key. The independent keys pace is   2 × 56= 112 bits.	It can use 256 bits key length in AES-256. 128, 192 are also used in AES-128, AES-192. (“DATA ENCRYPTION STANDARD“, 2016).	n=p*q where p and q are random prime numbers. The modulus n will be having some bits length and key length is based on n.
Block Size	3DES has 64 bit block size. For each encryption, encrypt the block that has 64 bits of data.	Got data length of 128. Four operational blocks are constituting this 128 data length.	RSA has a variable bit size of   encryption blocks.
Cipher Type	3DES is a Symmetric Block Cipher. It consists of k1, k2, k3 keys for mutually independent.	AES is a Symmetric Block Cipher.	RSA is an Asymmetric block cipher. Number theory is the basis for this public key based asymmetric cryptosystem.
Round(s)	3DES has 48 Rounds for 168 bits.	While retrieving the original plain text, 128 bit keys will take 10 rounds, 192 bit keys takes 12 rounds and 256 bit keys takes 14 rounds in AES based system.	RSA has 1 round for large random prime numbers.
Speed	Encryption level and average time is increased by 3-times iteration.  This causes enough slowness when compared with other cipher methods.	AES is fast when compared with others.	RSA is a slowest one because it has large p and q length.
Security	3DES has enough Security to sending and receiving date.	AES has excellent Security when compared with others.	RSA has least security when compared with others.
Encryption Time	3DES has minor encryption time.	AES encryption time is minor.	RSA has the longest encryption time.
Memory Usage	3DES has 2^56 blocks of memory. So the memory usage is high.	The memory usage of AES is very low.	The memory usage of RSA is very high.
Created By	This was created by IBM in 1978.	This was created by Vincent   Rijmen, Joan Daemen in 2001.	Ron Rivest along with Adi Shamir and Leonard Adleman , in 1978 , developed this.

The WPAN stands for Wireless Personal Area Network. It uses the IEEE 802.15 standards which is limited for certain area only.  This helps in interconnecting the devices in the locality. There are many IEEE standards which are differentiated in terms of rate, protocols and routing, and some of them are as follows (Yadav, Kanodia, Grewal Dangi, & P. Panda, 2016):

• 15.1 (Bluetooth)
• 15.6
• 15.10
• 15.3 (High Rate WPAN)
• 15.9
• 15.4 (Low Rate WPAN/ZigBee) 

Among various WPAN technologies, ZigBeee is the best form of wireless technology. This technology helps in creating (PAN) personal area networks. This in turn is created with the help of radios waves which has less power. Thus, it is mainly used for transferring less amount of data in a short range. The ZigBee follows the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. The battery in ZigBee are generally not rechargeable and provides network speed till 250 Kbps. It can cover an area ranging from 70 to 400 meters (Yadav, Kanodia, Grewal Dangi, & P. Panda, 2016).

There are various ZigBee wireless attacks therefore, security is important. The 802.15.4 protocol’s security features are considered for manufacturing and implementing these protocols in the devices. Every time the only part where the security risks arise are in implementation part. (Bowers, 2012).

The attacks that are against the ZigBee are as follows (Bowers, 2012):

• Physical Attacks

This type of attack ensures to gain access of the device which contains ZigBee radio by the attacker. The encryption key and the ZigBee network is used for gaining the physical access. The keys are just flashed on all the devices of a ZigBee network (Bowers, 2012). 

• Key Attacks

The other sort of attack can be based on remote access for gaining the encryption keys. If the attacker uses both the hardware and the software-based tools, then it can perform unlawful activities. In order to increase the complications, the attacker can utilize the high-powered transmitters or special Yagi antennas. The attacker will be able to hack from any remote are without any range limit (Bowers, 2012). 

• Replay and Injection Attacks

This is the last sort of attack and is based on the key-based attacks that are blended with packet replay or with the injection attacks. This helps in tricking the ZigBee devices for performing the unauthorized actions. The ZigBee radios responses well to these attacks (Bowers, 2012). 

Bluetooth is a Radio specification designed for replacing the cables as the medium of data   between the electronics devices (HAATAJA, 2009). 

WPAN Technology Security Challenges

Bluetooth offers advantages and benefits. The bluetooth contains four security modes, in which two are optional. They are, the entire connection will be secured and that which contains policies for all the applications. As the bluetooth security is turned on, the devices automatically send challenge-response messages. This contains the static device PIN. The authentication process requires encryption key for scrambling the data that is forwarded to the other device. But the fact is that the bluetooth is weak in nature to provide security. This is because the PIN and the encryption keys are of variable length. Moreover, the lengths are short and this is the reason why it doesn’t provide security (“Can you tell me about security in Bluetooth technology?”, 2016).

The following are the security challenges faced in bluetooth devices:

1. Integrity threat

The recipient can be confused by continuously altering the information (Ibn Minar, 2012). 

1. Denial of service (DOS) threat

The accessing service for accessing the other devices is blocked. This block ensures to makes the authorized users unavailable (Ibn Minar, 2012). 

1. Disclosure threat

There is a possibility, that the information can be leaked. This leak happens from the user’s system to an eavesdropper. These are the ones who have no authority to access any sort of information (Ibn Minar, 2012). 

1. Bluesnarfing

The Bluesnarfing is serious when compared with the bluejacking. This can permit to leave certain information open that are present in the smartphones. The softwares are used to accomplish this purpose. This type of hacking is even made possible when the devices are in “invisible” state. The information can be the bank details. (“Hacking Bluetooth Devices: Bluebugging, Bluejacking, Bluesnarfing”, 2014). 

1. Bluejacking

The bluejacking is a form of hacker’s threat. This is a common type of hacking. This takes place when the discoverable devices are being searched by the hackers in the area. Later the hackers sends the spam to the devices. The spam is generally in the form of text message (“Hacking Bluetooth Devices: Bluebugging, Bluejacking, Bluesnarfing”, 2014). 

1. Blue bugging

The complete accessing of the device is possibly gained by the hacker, if he Bluebugs an individual’s mobile. All the contacts, photos, applications and so on can be accessed easily. This takes place when the devices is set to “discoverable” state. This is the most difficult for of hacking when compared with Bluesnarfing and Bluejacking (“Hacking Bluetooth Devices: Bluebugging, Bluejacking, Bluesnarfing”, 2014). 

References 

Bowers, B. (2012). ZigBee Wireless Security: A New Age Penetration Tester’s Toolkit. Retrieved from https://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=1823368&seqNum=4

Can you tell me about security in Bluetooth technology?. (2016). SearchMobileComputing. Retrieved 29 September 2016, from https://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/answer/Can-you-tell-me-about-security-in-Bluetooth-technology

DATA ENCRYPTION STANDARD. (2016). Umsl.edu. Retrieved 29 September 2016, from https://www.umsl.edu/~siegelj/information_theory/projects/des.netau.net/Dataencryptionstandard.html

HAATAJA, K. (2009). Security Threats and Countermeasures in Bluetooth-Enabled Systems. Business And Information Technology Of The University Of Kuopio.

Hacking Bluetooth Devices: Bluebugging, Bluejacking, Bluesnarfing. (2014). Phoenix TS. Retrieved 29 September 2016, from https://phoenixts.com/blog/hacking-bluetooth-devices-bluebugging-bluesnarfing-bluejacking/

Ibn Minar, N. (2012). Bluetooth Security Threats And Solutions: A Survey. International Journal Of Distributed And Parallel Systems, 3(1), 127-148. https://dx.doi.org/10.5121/ijdps.2012.3110

Security Issues with WiFi Bluetooth and ZigBee | DigiKey. (2016). Digikey.com. Retrieved 29 September 2016, from https://www.digikey.com/en/articles/techzone/2012/may/security-issues-with-wifi-bluetooth-and-zigbee

Singh, S., K. Maakar, S., & Kumar, D. (2013). Enhancing the Security of DES Algorithm Using Transposition Cryptography Techniques. International Journal Of Advanced Research In Computer Science And Software Engineering, 3(6).

SHARMA, G. (2014). Implementation and analysis of DES algorithm. Saarbrücken: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing.

Yadav, M., Kanodia, K., Grewal Dangi, K., & P. Panda, S. (2016). A Survey of Bluetooth and ZigBee WPAN Standards. IJEDR, 4(2).