Comments on Networking and Security - Challenges for Environmental Observatories Arthur C. Sanderson Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute NSF Workshop on Cyberinfrastructure for Environmental Observatories December 6-7, 2004

December 6, 2004A. C. Sanderson2 Environmental Observatories Networked distributed computing systems  Share many common security challenges  Data integrity, authentication, access, privacy… But – Environmental Observatory Networks differ in:  Scale  Complexity  Dynamics  Homogeneity  Embedded Systems

December 6, 2004A. C. Sanderson3 Examples of Environmental Observatories Examples of Environmental Observatories Distributed Sensor Network  1000’s of small nodes with low complexity  Ad hoc wireless network  Embedded in the physical environment CNS - UCLA Ocean Observatory  10’s-100’s of complex nodes  May have fiber-linked network  Diverse sensor types  Mobile nodes  Dynamic and diverse AOSN – MBARI

December 6, 2004A. C. Sanderson4 Vulnerabilities of the ECI Vulnerabilities of the ECI  Data Integrity  Privacy – Origin and context of data  Authentication – Classes of access and use  Attacks  Denial of service – electronic or physical  Passive listening  Data insertion and corruption  Platform for attack  Unintended Consequences  Use of data for unintended purposes  Future data mining  Privacy violations – unknowing, unwilling subjects

December 6, 2004A. C. Sanderson5 Security Needs of ECI Security Needs of ECI  Security Models  New metrics  Life-cycle systems design  Fault tolerance in ad hoc systems  e.g. reconfiguration, “light-weight” cryptography  Intrusion detection  Node exclusion, tamper resistance  Validation  Use of deployed nodes to cross-check and validate  Middleware consistency  Hierarchical approaches – multilayer design

December 6, 2004A. C. Sanderson6 Future Issues Future Issues  Management  Rationalize interpretation of security among  Scientists, public  “Reliability” of observations and models  Linking security with scientific goals in design and implementation  Modularity of systems to enhance implementation  Future Steps  Basic research on security in ad hoc networks  Build testbeds for security and reliability issues  Advance educational programs on security topics