Browsing by Author "Pathak, Aditya Kalpesh"

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Open Access
Adaptive Quality of Service and Trust Based Lightweight Secure Routing Algorithm for Dense Wireless Sensor Networks
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2021-01) Pathak, Aditya Kalpesh; Al-Anbagi, Irfan; Bais, Abdul; Hamilton, Howard; El-Darieby, Mohamed
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are group of wireless devices that are deployed in an adhoc manner and are generally left unattended. The main advantages of WSNs are that they are simple to use, allow the use of inexpensive sensor nodes, and have good scalability. WSNs are useful in object tracking, periodic monitoring, and event detection applications. However, the inherent characteristics of the WSNs, such as limited resources and low computation, make them vulnerable to various types of security attacks. Therefore, security mechanisms are needed to secure the network and protect against various security attacks. Conventional security mechanisms, such as cryptography (encryption/decryption) and authentication based systems, are generally used to ensure the security of traditional networks. However, due to the resource constrained nature of WSNs, conventional security mechanisms can be too resourceheavy to allow the reliable and lightweight operation of a WSN. Therefore, providing security, while maintaining Quality of Service (QoS) and energy efficiency, represents an important research challenge in the design of WSNs. In this thesis, we critically investigate the problem of security provisioning in WSNs. We identify challenges, limitations, and requirements for implementing security with QoS and energy efficiency for dense WSNs. We find that the security constraints for WSNs have not been well discussed in the literature. Also, the simultaneous optimization of energy, QoS, and security has not gained much attention. We develop two novel algorithms that address the above issues in WSNs and optimize energy, QoS, and security using a metaheuristic technique known as Ant Colony Optimization (ACO). These algorithms are called Dynamic Trust-aware Secure Routing (DTSR) and Lightweight Secure Routing (LSR). DTSR improves the connectivity and improves the tradeoff between coverage and lifetime for dense WSNs. Furthermore, LSR provides an improved method for the detection and isolation of a compromised node by using direct and indirect trust calculations for dense WSNs. We show through analytical and simulation results that our presented algorithms can outperform existing techniques in terms of network lifetime, average routing delay, and packet delivery ratio. Also, we perform an analysis of network lifetime over varying network sizes to find a good range of nodes for the effcient performance of the algorithm. Furthermore, we present a runtime analysis of the algorithms to understand the simulation time in the MATLAB environment based on changing network size.
Open Access
Secure and scalable blockchain mechanisms for IoT applications
(Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Regina, 2025-01) Pathak, Aditya Kalpesh; Al-Anbagi, Irfan; Laforge, Paul; Paranjape, Raman; Hamilton, Howard; Stakhanova, Natalia
Integrating blockchain with IoT ensures secure, transparent data exchange through immutability and consensus mechanisms, preventing data tampering. However, the increasing number of IoT devices raises risks like unauthorized access and network attacks. Blockchain scalability issues also affect throughput and latency, challenging real-time IoT applications. This thesis addresses these challenges through four contributions that aim to improve the security, scalability, and efficiency of blockchainbased IoT networks, balancing security with performance needs. Our first contribution is to develop an end-to-end security mechanism for IoT networks, called the trust-based ABAC mechanism for IoT networks (TABI). TABI integrates edge computing and blockchain technology to mitigate risks from malicious devices and offload computational tasks to edge layers. It operates on Hyperledger Fabric (HLF), a permissioned blockchain that enhances throughput and latency through its executeorder- validate architecture. Our second objective is to provide scalability within blockchain-based IoT networks using a sidechain-based trust and access control system, named sidechain-based trust and access control mechanism for IoT networks (SATI). By distributing trust evaluation and access control operations across a separate blockchain or sidechain, SATI improves the scalability of IoT networks. We implement a cross-chain transfer mechanism to ensure communication between the sidechain and the mainchain, thus overcoming a fundamental limitation of traditional blockchain architectures. Our third contribution is to improve the security of the IoT network by introducing a Zero-Knowledge Proof-based Mutual Authentication (ZPMA) mechanism, a privacy-preserving mutual authentication mechanism. Utilizing Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP) based on the quadratic residue technique, Z-PMA ensures secure and private mutual authentication between edge devices and IoT devices. We also implement an incentive mechanism to select additional authenticators from the base station layer to reduce authentication latency and support the demands of low-latency IoT networks. Our fourth contribution is to detect and resolve conflicting transactions in HLF-based IoT networks at an early stage, known as the early-stage conflict transaction resolution (ECR) mechanism. ECR identifies and resolves conflicting transactions at an early stage using a local cache at the endorsement phase of the HLF transaction processing. Additionally, ECR uses dependency model and an efficient reordering process to distribute transactions in a way that minimizes conflicts. This mechanism enhances the performance of HLF-based IoT networks by reducing the impact of conflicting transactions, ultimately improving throughput and latency.