IKE-based secure wireless and mobile networks

Internet key exchange (IKE) is an IPsec protocol that is used for establishing security associations and key negotiations between two hosts over insecure medium. This paper first examines different implementations of IKE protocols that are widely used in wired networks, focusing on their security flaws when considered for use in wireless and mobile IP networks. Then a variant of IKE protocol that is deployable in wireless and mobile networks is presented. The proposed protocol is based on preshared key authentication during IKE phase1. The advantages of proposed approach over existing solutions, which includes identity protection, scalability, low overhead costs, less susceptible to passive dictionary based attacks are illustrated and tested using FreeBSD IPSec Gateways and open source IKE Crack tools.