Scalable Identity and Key Management Scheme for MQTT

The MQTT protocol is being used widely in the smart grid to manage and control devices ranging from generators to sensors. Currently PKI is being used to secure the gateway to cloud communications. The heavyweight nature of PKI and the difficulty of revocation and key management lead to poor usability and relatively higher and unacceptable latencies in the smart grid. Hence, we propose our solution of using a key management scheme with macaroons in order to make key management more usable for our smart grid use cases. We built a solution for the identity ontology problem in the smart grid, while protecting devices from active server compromises and man-in-the-middle attacks.

For more information about this technology or opportunities for industrial collaboration, contact Prashant Anantharaman. More information is also available on the Related Research Activity page.