Secure Data Exchange System : Minimizing Security Attacks Risks while Preserving Bandwidth

Abstract

In the world where Internet applications dominate data communications, a system to exchange information securely between Internet users is vital. Many solutions have been put forward to facilitate such exchange, these solutions have their own advantages and disadvantages. In this paper we introduce a thin secure layer that resides on top of the IP layer and supports encryption and compression of IP packets. Our solution provides the necessary security level to overcome most of the security risks without sacrificing performance and network bandwidth. By giving the option to choose between different levels of encryption and compression levels, the users can choose the level most suitable to their needs. In order to show the usage of our security layer, we implemented a simple chatting system that’s capable of exchanging encrypted text messages and allows the clients to send encrypted and compressed files. The application also provides two ways to sniff network traffic showing the risks of exchanging information without imposing a proper security level..

Keywords:

Security Protocol, IPSec, Encryption, Rijndael, Compression, Bandwidth Consumption, Session Management, Cryptography, IP Layer, TCP/IP Suite.

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction
2. Related Solutions
    2.1 IPSec
    2.2 SSL
3. System Design
    3.1 System Objectives
    3.2 Design Choices
4. Software Design
    4.1 Raw Socket
    4.2 CryptZip Library
5. Application Walkthrough
6. Conclusion
7. References
8. Appendix A: Abbreviations

View the complete report online

Download the paper in Adobe Acrobat format

Download the code