Wed. Dec. 5, 2007- David Wetherall: Protecting the Privacy of the Users of Wireless Devices
The Center for Research on Computation and Society continues its weekly lunch seminar:
CRCS Privacy and Security Lunch Seminar
Date: Wednesday, 5 December 2007
Time: 12:00pm-1:30pm
Place: Maxwell Dworkin119
Topic: Protecting the Privacy of the Users of Wireless Devices
Speaker: David Wetherall, Intel Research and University of Washington
Abstract:
We have started a new research effort to build wireless systems that provide a high degree of privacy for the users of mobile devices. Existing wireless protocols such as 802.11 transmit unique identifiers, e.g., MAC addresses, that allow users to be tracked and profiled by any nearby observer; they do not provide security models that work well in unmanaged environments. This is becoming problematic as wireless devices become more ubiquitous and more personal (with the proliferation of mobile phones, personal fitness and medical devices, headsets, and consumer electronics) and security problems become more pressing (with the rise in identity theft and unintended disclosures).
We are developing techniques that selectively disclose addresses and other distinguishing information that maps to high-level identities, and which restrict connectivity to intended service regions. The former is challenging because addresses play a basic role in protocols such that they cannot be concealed without impact; traditional encryption methods such as WPA2, IPSEC and SSL do not prevent tracking and profiling. The latter is challenging because wireless signals propagate in unpredictable ways and leak across boundaries in the physical world.