We introduce a model for provable data possession (PDP) that allows a client that has stored data at an untrusted server to verify that the server possesses the original data without retrieving it. The model generates probabilistic proofs of possession by sampling random sets of blocks from the server, which drastically reduces I/O costs. The client maintains a constant amount of metadata to verify the proof. The challenge/response protocol transmits a small, constant amount of data, which minimizes network communication. Thus, the PDP model for remote data checking supports large data sets in widely-distributed storage systems.We present two provably-secure PDP schemes that are more efficient than previous solutions, even when compared with schemes that achieve weaker guarantees. In particular, the overhead at the server is low (or even constant), as opposed to linear in the size of the data. Experiments using our implementation verify the practicality of PDP and reveal that the performance of PDP is bounded by disk I/O and not by cryptographic computation.

Searchable symmetric encryption (SSE) allows a party to outsource the storage of his data to another party in a private manner, while maintaining the ability to selectively search over it. This problem has been the focus of active research and several security definitions and constructions have been proposed. In this paper we begin by reviewing existing notions of security and propose new and stronger security definitions. We then present two constructions that we show secure under our new definitions. Interestingly, in addition to satisfying stronger security guarantees, our constructions are more efficient than all previous constructions.Further, prior work on SSE only considered the setting where only the owner of the data is capable of submitting search queries. We consider the natural extension where an arbitrary group of parties other than the owner can submit search queries. We formally define SSE in this multi-user setting, and present an efficient construction.

We introduce a model for provable data possession (PDP) that can be used for remote data checking: A client that has stored data at an untrusted server can verify that the server possesses the original data without retrieving it. The model generates probabilistic proofs of possession by sampling random sets of blocks from the server, which drastically reduces I/O costs. The client maintains a constant amount of metadata to verify the proof. The challenge/response protocol transmits a small, constant amount of data, which minimizes network communication. Thus, the PDP model for remote data checking is lightweight and supports large data sets in distributed storage systems. The model is also robust in that it incorporates mechanisms for mitigating arbitrary amounts of data corruption.We present two provably-secure PDP schemes that are more efficient than previous solutions. In particular, the overhead at the server is low (or even constant), as opposed to linear in the size of the data. We then propose a generic transformation that adds robustness to any remote data checking scheme based on spot checking. Experiments using our implementation verify the practicality of PDP and reveal that the performance of PDP is bounded by disk I/O and not by cryptographic computation. Finally, we conduct an in-depth experimental evaluation to study the tradeoffs in performance, security, and space overheads when adding robustness to a remote data checking scheme.

Many storage systems rely on replication to increase the availability and durability of data on untrusted storage systems. At present, such storage systems provide no strong evidence that multiple copies of the data are actually stored. Storage servers can collude to make it look like they are storing many copies of the data, whereas in reality they only store a single copy. We address this shortcoming through multiple-replica provable data possession (MR-PDP): A provably-secure scheme that allows a client that stores t replicas of a file in a storage system to verify through a challenge-response protocol that (1) each unique replica can be produced at the time of the challenge and that (2) the storage system uses t times the storage required to store a single replica. MR-PDP extends previous work on data possession proofs for a single copy of a file in a client/server storage system [4]. Using MR-PDP to store t replicas is computationally much more efficient than using a single-replica PDP scheme to store t separate, unrelated files (e.g., by encrypting each file separately prior to storing it). Another advantage of MR-PDP is that it can generate further replicas on demand, at little expense, when some of the existing replicas fail.

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Remote Data Checking (RDC) is a technique by which clients can establish that data outsourced at untrusted servers remains intact over time. RDC is useful as a prevention tool, allowing clients to periodically check if data has been damaged, and as a repair tool whenever damage has been detected. Initially proposed in the context of a single server, RDC was later extended to verify data integrity in distributed storage systems that rely on replication and on erasure coding to store data redundantly at multiple servers. Recently, a technique was proposed to add redundancy based on network coding, which offers interesting tradeoffs because of its remarkably low communication overhead to repair corrupt servers. Unlike previous work on RDC which focused on minimizing the costs of the prevention phase, we take a holistic look and initiate the investigation of RDC schemes for distributed systems that rely on network coding to minimize the combined costs of both the prevention and repair phases. We propose RDC-NC, a novel secure and efficient RDC scheme for network coding-based distributed storage systems. RDC-NC mitigates new attacks that stem from the underlying principle of network coding. The scheme is able to preserve in an adversarial setting the minimal communication overhead of the repair component achieved by network coding in a benign setting. We implement our scheme and experimentally show that it is computationally inexpensive for both clients and servers. © 2010 ACM

Recent studies show that network coding can provide significant benefits to network protocols, such as increased throughput, reduced network congestion, higher reliability, and lower power consumption. The core principle of network coding is that intermediate nodes actively mix input packets to produce output packets. This mixing subjects network coding systems to a severe security threat, known as a pollution attack, where attacker nodes inject corrupted packets into the network. Corrupted packets propagate in an epidemic manner, depleting network resources and significantly decreasing throughput. Pollution attacks are particularly dangerous in wireless networks, where attackers can easily inject packets or compromise devices due to the increased network vulnerability.In this paper, we address pollution attacks against network coding systems in wireless mesh networks. We demonstrate that previous solutions to the problem are impractical in wireless networks, incurring an unacceptably high degradation of throughput. We propose a lightweight scheme, DART, that uses time-based authentication in combination with random linear transformations to defend against pollution attacks. We further improve system performance and propose EDART, which enhances DART with an optimistic forwarding scheme. A detailed security analysis shows that the probability of a polluted packet passing our verification procedure is very low. Performance results using the well-known MORE protocol and realistic link quality measurements from the Roofnet experimental testbed show that our schemes improve system performance over 20 times compared to previous solutions.

In recent years, network coding has emerged as a new communication paradigm that can significantly improve the efficiency of network protocols by requiring intermediate nodes to mix packets before forwarding them. Recently, several real-world systems have been proposed to leverage network coding in wireless networks. Although the theoretical foundations of network coding are well understood, a real-world system needs to solve a plethora of practical aspects before network coding can meet its promised potential. These practical design choices expose network coding systems to a wide range of attacks.We identify two general frameworks (inter-flow and intra-flow) that encompass several network coding-based systems proposed in wireless networks. Our systematic analysis of the components of these frameworks reveals vulnerabilities to a wide range of attacks, which may severely degrade system performance. Then, we identify security goals and design challenges in achieving security for network coding systems. Adequate understanding of both the threats and challenges is essential to effectively design secure practical network coding systems. Our paper should be viewed as a cautionary note pointing out the frailty of current network coding-based wireless systems and a general guideline in the effort of achieving security for network coding systems.