PUF-Based Protocol for Securing Constrained Devices

In networks of smart devices, managing the trust among devices is a key challenge to prevent malicious intrusions of rogue agents. One aspect of trust is to ensure the authenticity of each device. Authentication schemes already exist for resourceful nodes, but we lack solutions for constrained devices which are undoubtedly an important part of those networks. In this paper, we present a new PUF-based authentication protocol for smart devices with autonomy and cost constraints, which aims at filling the gap between current authentication protocols and no authentication at all. We also describe our first implementation of the protocol using a microcontroller of the NXP LPC55S6x family, which features secure storage and key generation using a SRAM PUF. Finally, we present our evaluation of the protocol's principle and performances to validate the feasibility of the solution in real-world applications.