A Distributed User Authentication Mechanism for 6TiSCH Protocol

The Internet of Things (IoT) has become a popular research topic in recent times. IoT networks enable billions of small devices to be integrated into the Internet and numerous applications ranging from automation of cities to home based health solutions for the elderly population. IoT network with numerous application areas also includes difficulties such as reliability, low power and low latency. Such low-powered Internet-based devices need to be configured with the security requirements needed to address the security problems that the Internet creates. In addition, security requirements must address such unique challenges through limited processing power and through a micro controller that consumes as little power as possible. This paper presents a plug-in to the secure boot mechanism of the 6TiSCH protocol that is deployed in the trusted nodes of the IoT network to provide an efficient boot process for authentication keys. By using the proposed approach, we aim to reduce the communication load of the standard 6TiSCH authentication mechanism and increase the energy efficiency of the network by keeping the authentication tokens at the edge of the IoT network.