New Generation Computing, 24(2006)351-376
Ohmsha, Ltd. and Springer

Punishing Malicious Hosts with the Cryptographic Traces Approach

Oscar ESPARZA, Jose L. MUÑOZ,
Miguel SORIANO and Jordi FORNÉ
Technical University of Catalonia Jordi Girona 1 i 3. Campus Nord
UPC.08034 Barcelona, Spain
{oscar.esparza,soriano,jose.munoz,jforne}
@entel.upc.edu

Received 9 March 2005
Revised manuscript received 15 February 2006

Abstract

The use of mobile agents seems the natural way to improve the network conditions to provide an easy access to future services. Unfortunately, there are some security constraints that avoid a massive use of mobile agents systems. The protection of mobile agents against the attacks of malicious hosts is considered by far the most difficult security problem to solve in mobile agent systems.
This paper introduces some techniques that aim to solve the problem of the malicious hosts. This paper improves some aspects of the most widely known attack detection technique, the cryptographic traces approach. This approach presents some major drawbacks that can be solved by means of a Suspicious Detection Protocol. Additionally, this paper introduces some other protocols that can be used to punish the malicious host by using a Third Trusted Party, the Host Revocation Authority.

Keywords:Mobile Agent Security, Malicious Hosts, Host Revocation.

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