6doku: Towards Secure Over-the-Air Preloading of 6LoWPAN Nodes using PHY Key Generation

Currently, adding a new node to an existing 6Lo-WPAN network is tedious. The user has to plug a cable into each new node so as to preload it with cryptographic material, as well as other configuration settings. This approach not only lacks usability and scalability, but also incurs higher per unit costs due to USB ports. To facilitate preloading, Wilhelm et al. proposed "SUDOKU" - a scheme for preloading nodes wirelessly. SUDOKU incorporates PHY key generation and Diffie-Hellman key exchange. In this paper, we propose a streamlined and more practical version of SUDOKU entitled "6DOKU". 6DOKU dispenses with Diffie-Hellman key exchange, which saves resources. Furthermore, 6DOKU provides the user with a mobile preloading tool, whereas SUDOKU requires the user to preload nodes in an isolated area before installation. 6DOKU not only improves on SUDOKU, but is competitive among other wireless preloading schemes, too. We prototyped 6DOKU's preloading tool as an Android app and give first experimental results.