Location-aware sign-on and key exchange using attribute-based encryption and Bluetooth beacons

Abstract

This work presents a mobile sign-on scheme, which utilizes Bluetooth Low Energy beacons for location awareness and Attribute-Based Encryption for expressive, broadcast-style key exchange. Bluetooth Low Energy beacons broadcast encrypted messages with encoded access policies. Within range of the beacons, a user with appropriate attributes is able to decrypt the broadcast message and obtain parameters that allow the user to perform a short or simplified login. The effect is a “traveling” sign-on that accompanies the user throughout different locations.