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A Multi-Authority Key-Policy ABE Scheme from Lattices in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
Lihua Liu, Shangping Wang and Qiao Yan

Compared with traditional wired networks, due to the lack of a centralized infrastructure and cooperative algorithm, the security of mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) is faced with great challenges. Generally, identity-based cryptography is used to build scalable secure systems in MANETs. But in traditional identity-based cryptography protocol, security certificate depends on a trusted third-party authority. The center authority often bears a heavier burden and a bigger risk in a single-authority public-key encryption scheme. Attribute-based encryption (ABE) is a type of public-key encryption with fine-grained access control, which can preferably support the distributed environment in MANETs. Aiming to solve the security of MANETs, a multi-authority key-policy ABE scheme is proposed in this paper, which is constructed from lattices. Lattice-based cryptography has the property of resistance quantum attack. Therefore, a multi-authority key-policy ABE system from lattices may be more secure in the post quantum era than a single-authority ABE system on bilinear mapping.

In new scheme, every attribute has its own authority, and the private key of each attribute under an LSSS access policy is generated by its own authority alone. The new scheme has the advantage of fine-grained access control, and also can support multi-authority attribute management. So it facilitates the practical private key management in MANETs. The security of the new scheme is proved in the selective-attribute attack model under learning with errors (LWE) assumption, and the security parameter selecting is discussed in detail.

Keywords: Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs); Attribute-based Encryption (ABE); Lattices

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