Summary of the talk by Prof. Mike Burmester

Summary of the talk by Prof. Mike Burmester

Alan Lupsha

Professor Mike Burmester is interested in research in areas of radio frequency identification and ubiquitous applications, mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) and sensor networks, group key exchange, trust management and network security, and digital forensics. New wireless technologies offer a great wireless medium, but unfortunately the current state of world research is not mature enough to fully understand and mange these new technologies. The fourth generation of wireless technologies, which should work both in the European Union and in the United States, will offer new challenges and opportunities for maturity in this field.

The RFID revolution will be the next big factor which will allow easier management of products. This technology is already being implemented in library systems, allowing easier book management and replacing bar codes, which requires line of sight in order to scan each book. Airports are also implementing RFID for luggage management, and hospitals use RFID tags to protect newborns from being kidnapped. Different types of sensor networks are used extensively in factory floor automation, border fencing and in a plethora of military applications. Sensors will also be extensively used in monitoring biological levels in people. For example, a blood level monitor can monitor and alert a diabetic person if their sugar level is too high or too low.

Mobile ad-hoc networks (MANET) offer information routing between wireless devices which are mobile. Vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANET) are a type of mobile ad-hoc networks which allow communication between moving vehicles. These networks allow individual wireless devices to act as nodes and to route information between other communicating devices, thus reducing the need of dedicated wireless nodes. Ubiquitous networks allow applications to relocate between wireless devices, thus following a mobile user on his or her journey, while continuing to provide needed services.

These new wireless technologies will also need proper management. Some of the new issues at hand include centralizing or decentralizing systems, finding out who will protect certain systems, ensuring data security (such as confidentiality, avoiding eavesdropping, guaranteeing privacy), preserving data integrity (avoid the modification and corruption of data), and data availability (dealing with denial of service attacks, identifying rogue based stations, dealing with man in the middle attacks, detecting and avoiding session tempering and session hijacking).

There is a trade-off between security and functionality. It is extremely challenging to secure wireless networks, but in certain cases one may desire less security in order achieve cheaper wireless products and technologies. Using secured pipelines to create point to point communication does ensure some security, but there are still problems at the physical layer, where attacks can be carried out. Hackers are keen to intercept and manipulate wireless data, making this a very attractive environment for them and creating the the challenge to try and stay ahead of the users of these technologies. This gives rise to great security threats, but it also opens up a niche for researchers to study and create new wireless network security technologies.