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A robust security scheme for wireless mesh enterprise networks

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Abstract

In this paper, we address the security challenges for wireless mesh enterprise networks (WMENs). The topology and communication characteristics of WMEN include the following: (a) deployment of the network devices are not planar, rather, devices are deployed over three-dimensional space (e.g., office buildings, shopping malls, grocery stores, etc.); (b) messages, generated/received by a mesh client, traverse through mesh routers in a multihop fashion; and (c) mesh clients, being mostly mobile in nature, may result in misbehaving or be spurious during communications. We propose a security scheme for WMEN in order to ensure that only authorized users are granted network access. Particularly, our scheme includes: (a) a deterministic key distribution technique that perfectly suits the network topology, (b) an efficient session key establishment protocol to achieve the client–router and router–router communications security, and (c) a distributed detection mechanism to identify malicious clients in the network. Analytical and simulation results are presented to verify our proposed solutions.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the MKE under the ITRC support program supervised by the IITA (IITA-2008-(C1090-0801-0016)).

Dr. Choong Seon Hong is the corresponding author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Engineering, School of Electronics and Information, Kyung Hee University, 1 Seocheon, Giheung, Yongin, Gyeonggi, 446-701, South Korea

    Md. Abdul Hamid, M. Abdullah-Al-Wadud, Choong Seon Hong, Oksam Chae & Sungwon Lee

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  1. Md. Abdul Hamid
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  2. M. Abdullah-Al-Wadud
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  3. Choong Seon Hong
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  4. Oksam Chae
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  5. Sungwon Lee
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Correspondence to Choong Seon Hong.

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Hamid, M.A., Abdullah-Al-Wadud, M., Hong, C.S. et al. A robust security scheme for wireless mesh enterprise networks. Ann. Telecommun. 64, 401–413 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12243-008-0084-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12243-008-0084-8

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