Lightweight Group Key Management Protocol for Decentralized Fog Computing Environments

Devanur Nagaraju, Gayathri (2025) Lightweight Group Key Management Protocol for Decentralized Fog Computing Environments. Masters thesis, Dublin, National College of Ireland.

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Abstract

Secure group communication in fog environments is challenging because of the dynamic nature of the node and the limited resources of edge devices. This research introduces LGKMP-Fog, a lightweight group key management protocol designed for decentralized fog environments. The protocol uses a hierarchical structure with a Domain Leader, Cluster Leaders, and Fog Nodes, and used a prime-seeded Mersenne Twister pseudo-random number(PRNG) generator to generate synchronized keys across clusters. LGKMP-Fog supports both event and time-based rekeying to ensure forward and backward secrecy, and includes features for seed validation, replay attack detection, and removal of compromised nodes

In this work, the Mersenne Twister PRNG is act as the prototype and evaluation used for ns-3 simulations (all results are based on this prototype), while the final crypto-correct specification is defined with a NIST-approved DRBG (CTR DRBG) for the epoch secret, HKDF-SHA256 for per-round key derivation, and AEAD (AES-GCM) for the data plane. This separation allowed full evaluation of the MT-based prototype in ns-3, while ensuring that the final specification, defined with DRBG, HKDF, and AEAD, aligns with cryptographic standards even though it was not benchmarked end-to-end.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Supervisors:	Name Email Hamdan, Mosab UNSPECIFIED
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Fog Computing; Group Key Management; Lightweight Security Protocol; Decentralized Architecture; Pseudo-random Key Generation; Rekeying Mechanism; Iot Security
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics > Electronic computers. Computer science T Technology > T Technology (General) > Information Technology > Electronic computers. Computer science Q Science > QA Mathematics > Computer software > Computer Security T Technology > T Technology (General) > Information Technology > Computer software > Computer Security T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering > Telecommunications > Computer networks > Internet of things
Divisions:	School of Computing > Master of Science in Cyber Security
Depositing User:	Ciara O'Brien
Date Deposited:	15 Jun 2026 13:24
Last Modified:	15 Jun 2026 13:24
URI:	https://norma.ncirl.ie/id/eprint/9351

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