Covert Channels Can Be Useful! – Layering Authentication Channels to Provide Covert Communication
نویسندگان
چکیده
This paper argues the need for providing a covert backchannel communication mechanism in authentication protocols, discusses various practical uses for such a channel, and desirable features for its design and deployment. Such a mechanism would leverage the current authentication channel to carry out the covert communication rather than introducing a separate one. The communication would need to be oblivious to an adversary observing it, possibly as a man-in-the-middle. We discuss the properties that such channels would need to have for the various scenarios in which they would be used. Also, we show their potential for mitigating the effects of a number of security breaches currently occurring in these scenarios.
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