Using a cryptographic authentication protocol for the secure control of a robot over TCP/IP

The paper deals with the implementation of an authentication protocol, based on cryptographic techniques, that is used in the communication necessary for the control of a mobile robot over a public network. The robot is connected via an 802.11 wireless network to a local computer; however the control of the robot is done from a remote host over TCP/IP and in this way the information involved in the control scenario may be exposed to several security risks. The application fits in the context of a remote controlled system and the interest in using cryptographic techniques in this area has drastically increased in the last years. Instead of using standardized solutions, such as the SSL, we use as a new approach an authentication protocol based on one-way chains. The advantage of this approach is that only simple cryptographic primitives, such as hash functions and message authentication codes, are needed. Experimental results are presented, and the results show that it is feasible to use such a protocol since transfer rates and computational overhead are kept at the desired level for the control scenario.