Delegated Authenticated Authorization for Constrained Environments

Smart objects are small devices with limited system resources, typically made to fulfill a single simple task. By connecting smart objects and thus forming an Internet of Things, the devices can interact with each other and their users and support a new range of applications. Due to the limitations of smart objects, common security mechanisms are not easily applicable. Small message sizes and the lack of processing power severely limit the devices´ ability to perform cryptographic operations. This paper introduces a protocol for delegating client authentication and authorization in a constrained environment. The protocol describes how to establish a secure channel based on symmetric cryptography between resource-constrained nodes in a cross-domain setting. A resource-constrained node can use this protocol to delegate authentication of communication peers and management of authorization information to a trusted host with less severe limitations regarding processing power and memory.