Introduction
We all agree on the need for security. However, there are many ways to achieve different levels of security. The purpose of this Web page is to outline the needs of SensorNet, to explain how certificates meet these needs, and to guide you through the certificate issuing and use process
Why are certificates the best SensorNet security solution?
What are the threats?
The general threats to security are well known, but we reiterate them here because it is necessary to keep them in mind when proposing a security
- Confidentiality - Protection of information from disclosure to unauthorized entities
- Integrity - Prevention of unauthorized changes to information
- Availability - Ability to access a resource whenever needed
- Non-repudiation - Confidence that a message was sent by a certain party or device and not an impostor
- Authentication - Is the person (or device) who he (it) claims to be?
- Authorization - Is the subject allowed to access a particular object or to perform a particular operation?
Because SensorNet is a vital component of Homeland Security, it is necessary to implement a viable security solution that provides strong proof of identity and contains the encryption tools and information necessary to provide protection from most of these threats. SensorNet has decided to implement a Public/Private Key Certificate infrastructure. Initially this will be done via software, but soon will be converted to hardware-based tokens. This Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) has several advantages
- Flexibility - The security system should be able to protect all of our resources as well as implementing security policies that are more sophisticated than mere file-access restrictions
- Uniformity - The solutions should look the same (but may have differing properties) across SensorNet
- Collaboration - Things that encourage the collaboratory aspects of SensorNet should be encouraged.
- Conformance to standards - PKI is a mature tool set supported on all platforms in an interchangeable manner.