TKGS: Verifiable threshold-based key generation scheme in open wireless ad hoc networks

Secure group-based communication services are gaining momentum in wireless ad hoc networks (WAHNs). The efficiency and scalability of these services make-them suitable for supporting the inherently collaborative computing and communications activities among peer WAHN nodes as well as the growing number of group-based WAHN applications. Key management, which is comprised of dynamic key generation, assignment and distribution, is at the heart of secure group communications. This paper proposes TKGS; an efficient threshold-based key generation scheme for open WAHNs based on collaborative reconstruction of key-generation keys. To mitigate node mal-behavior, a verifiable secret sharing technique is employed, where an (authenticated) dealer node is selected to collect, a set number of valid shares and generate new administrative keys. While most existing key management schemes assume reliable, trusted nodes, TKGS provides a distributed solution that is resilient to node failure and mal-behavior. A major advantage of TKGS is its small overhead; collaborative key construction is done in less than two rounds with a very high probability of success.