Human Perceivable Authentication: An Economical Solution for Security Associations in Short-Distance Wireless Networking

A challenge in secure pairing of two wireless devices is how to share a secret between the two devices in a user-friendly manner, as many users practically choose the simplest setup of no security. Various out-of-band (OOB) methods have been proposed in the literature, where either extra hardware is required (e.g. infrared device, digital camera, near-field communication device, USB flash drive, etc.) or wireless devices with a keyboard/display are assumed. In this paper, we propose a novel method of human perceivable authentication (HPA) that, without any extra hardware, achieves industry-standard security for user interface (UI) constrained devices. A feature of the proposed HPA scheme is the simplicity of user operation for device pairing: a user presses and releases a button on an initiating wireless device in concert with the on/off pattern of LED light on a correspondent wireless device. Simulation experiments have been performed to evaluate the usability aspect of the proposed HPA scheme.