Efficient Secret Key Delivery Using Heartbeats

Abstract

Recently many researchers have employed physiological signals like heartbeats as a source of the key seed used in key establishment protocols. The physiological signals make it easy to establish a secret key between implantable (or attachable) medical devices which can sense physiological signals. A key establishment protocol is a fundamental requirement to support the security of the healthcare and medical services such as diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and follow-up services. However, existing key establishment protocols demand high computational and communication costs or need long key establishment time. In this paper, we propose an efficient IPI-based key establishment protocol that requires relatively short time while keeping the strength of security close.