Threshold-Based Distance Bounding

Conventional access control mechanisms usually rely on the use of a single token for user authentication, and are generally vulnerable to relay attacks. In addition, these systems often suffer from usability issues. Since they are centrally managed, key management tends to be a rather slow and cumbersome process in this setting. In this paper, we propose a threshold-based location-aware access control mechanism. It combines the concepts of secret sharing and distance bounding protocols to tackle various security vulnerabilities. Our proposed solution offers protection against any set of (t − 1) compromised user’s devices, with t being an adjustable threshold number. It supports user-centered management, since users can alter the set of personal devices, and can tune the security parameters of the access control scheme towards the required level of security and resilience.