Chaotic map based multi-factor authentication protocol for underwater environment monitoring

The underwater environment holds significant potential for advancing ecosystem understanding, industrial operations, and early natural disaster prediction. To monitor this environment effectively, technologies like Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) are being extensively developed and deployed. However, due to the unreliable nature of the underwater environment, communications carried out using UWSNs are vulnerable to various security threats. For secure communication in UWSNs, it is essential that the communicating entities are mutually authenticated. Recently, Sureshkumar et al. discussed an authentication protocol using chaotic map operations. However, we have discovered that the protocol is not secure against privileged insider, user impersonation, and denial of service attacks. Additionally, the protocol lacks perfect forward secrecy. To address these issues, we propose a multi-factor authentication protocol based on the chaotic map for monitoring the underwater environment. The extensive formal security analysis employs the Burrows-Abadi-Needham (BAN) logic and Real-Or-Random (ROR) model to prove the robustness of our proposed protocol. Furthermore, a state-of-the-art informal security analysis demonstrates the effectiveness of our protocol against various threats. We also validate the security of our proposed protocol through simulations using the Automated Validation of Internet Security Protocols and Applications (AVISPA) tool. In terms of performance evaluation, our protocol outperforms existing ones ensuring proficient operation in the underwater environment.

Automated summary

The underwater environment has significant potential for ecosystem understanding, industrial operations, and natural disaster prediction. To effectively monitor this environment, Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) are being developed and deployed. However, the unreliable nature of the underwater environment poses security threats to communications conducted through UWSNs. To address this issue, a multi-factor authentication protocol based on the chaotic map is proposed for monitoring the underwater environment, and its security is validated through formal and informal security analysis as well as simulations using the AVISPA tool. The proposed protocol outperforms existing ones in the underwater environment.