Enabling secure discovery in a pervasive environment

The pervasive computing paradigm assumes an essentially dynamic model of interaction between devices that also motivates the need to discover the services offered by previously unknown parties at an early phase of these interactions. Whereas this assumption is at the heart of many pervasive computing protocols and systems, the necessity of securing service discovery and the complexity of this task have been largely underestimated, if considered at all. This paper discusses the implications of insecure service discovery in available systems and which security objectives should be pursued. The design space for introducing security features into a specific architecture, namely registry-based discovery systems, is then explored and assessed.