CP-ABE BASED SECURE DATA RETRIEVAL SCHEME FOR DECENTRALIZED DISRUPTION-TOLERANT MILITARY NETWORKS

Ciphertext-policy attribute-based encryption (CP-ABE) is a promising cryptographic solution to the access control issues. Ciphertext-policy ABE provides a scalable way of encrypting data such that the encryptor defines the attribute set that the decryptor needs to possess in order to de-crypt the ciphertext. Thus, different users are allowed to decrypt different pieces of data per the security policy. The problem of applying CP-ABE in decentralized DTNs introduces several security and privacy challenges with regard to the attribute revocation, key escrow, and coordination of attributes issued from different authorities. In this abstract, we propose a secure data retrieval scheme using CP-ABE for decentralized DTNs where multiple key authorities manage their attributes independently. We demonstrate how to apply the proposed mechanism to securely and efficiently manage the confidential data distributed in the disruption-tolerant military network.