Secure Communication in an Embedded Environment

Unprotected communication over a normal network is quite risky today, especially with the widespread abuse of electronic communication through eavesdropping, viruses and the like. This presents a challenge in an environment where remote monitoring of equipment is required. Especially if the operation is of a sensitive nature or the equipment is based on proprietary IP. It is possible to learn the mechanisms of such equipment through listening to their communication with the monitoring station. This paper presents a simple, inexpensive embedded system that ensures the security and privacy of such communication. The system is built from well-known, tried and tested components and is based on the well-established DES encryption algorithm.