Secure Session Key Sharing Using Symmetric Key Cryptography

Information security is a major concern when the information is transmitted via telecommunication systems (wired or wireless). This security is provided by cryptography, which ensures the secure transmission of data over the internet. Two types of cryptographic techniques are used for the encryption and decryption of data, first being symmetric key and second being asymmetric key. In either of these techniques storage of large number of keys or usage of similar keys may lead to either storage overhead or vulnerabilities. Therefore, session keys were evolved as a solution for problems with storage of distinct secret keys over a long period and dependency between communication sessions. The session keys are generated and shared through key establishment protocols. Here, we propose a key generation and sharing protocol between two entities using symmetric key cryptography. The proposed protocol is secure due to usage of symmetric keys and its security analysis could not detect any potential attacks on it. The protocol can be used in a varied number of applications where simplicity and security are major requirements.