Diffie Hellman Application in Wimax Security

Abstract

The Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a new technology which is presently being rolled out. WiMAX defines Privacy Key Management (PKM) protocol in the security sub-layer, which assures the security of connections access in WiMAX channel. PKM protocol has two goals, one is to provide the authorization process and the other is to secure distribution of keying data from the Base Station (BS) to Mobile Station (MS). PKM versions have a security loophole that endangers the network. The network management information is passed in a non-secure environment. The Man-In- The-Middle (MITM) attack exploits this weakness in the network by eavesdropping, interception and fabrication of the management messages, resulting in a breach in the reliability of the entire network. In this paper, a modification of the Diffie-Hellman (DH) key exchange protocol is proposed to mitigate the man-in-the middle attack in WiMAX by modeling the protocol in Network. The DH protocol uses a unique algorithm whose solution must be obtained by both the SS and the BS for communication to be allowed. DH provides an opportunity for a secure environment to be created before any communication is done. Exchange of network messages can then be allowed after mutual authentication. This paper will seek to highlight how DH can be implemented in the WiMAX network and consequently guarantee security in communication.