Applying symmetric and asymmetric key algorithms for the security in wireless networks: proof of correctness

Abstract

In a wireless network, open and wireless communication channels set the restriction of wired connections free, because wireless signal acts as the platform of data transmission. On the other hand, the open and shared nature of wireless networks also causes a number of security concerns. In particular, data confidentiality is one of the most important issues. As usual, cryptosystems are adopted to protect the data confidentiality and integrity, including symmetric and asymmetric encryption algorithms. However, due to the limitations of these algorithms, how to apply them to wireless and mobile networks is always a debatable topic. In this paper, we explore the issue of applying both symmetric and asymmetric key algorithms for data encryption and authentication. Then we propose an advisable solution for the application of these cryptographic algorithms, which not only takes advantage of symmetric key to provide the effective protection of data transmission, but also employs asymmetric key to authenticate a node reliably. We formalize the security analysis and show that our system owns effective and provable secure attributes based on rational combination of classic encryption algorithms. Thus, we avoid the weakness of these two cryptosystems and make use of their advantages to establish a secure environment, by the combination of symmetric and asymmetric key algorithms.