KR101940722B1 - Method for providing communication security for user mobile in open wifi zone - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for providing communication security for a user terminal in an open Wi-Fi zone, the method comprising: transmitting a search response including an encryption method and an encryption key to a search request of a user terminal; ; Performing an authentication procedure using the encryption scheme and the encryption key transmitted from the user terminal when the user terminal attempts an authentication procedure; And performing connection establishment with the user terminal according to the authentication result.

Description

[0001] METHOD FOR PROVIDING COMMUNICATION SECURITY FOR USER MOBILE IN OPEN WIFI ZONE [0002]

The present invention relates to a method for providing communication security for a user terminal in an open Wi-Fi zone, and more particularly, to a method for providing a communication security for a user terminal in an open Wi- To a method for providing communication security for a user terminal in an open WiFi zone, in order to maintain the open WiFi environment as well as to enhance the security of user data.

Wi-Fi communication is basically the communication between an access point (AP) that transmits data to the Internet and a user terminal that receives a service such as a notebook or a smart phone. To use WiFi, you need to have hardware (wireless LAN card) to connect to the user terminal, and a device driver must be installed in the operating system to recognize the wireless LAN card. Users are able to use Wi-Fi without any setup because they are basically installed in user terminals that carry lots of mobile devices such as smart phones and notebooks. In recent years, because of the advantage of being able to communicate with the Internet or between the two without the help of a variety of peripheral devices such as game machines, printers, and TVs, the number of terminals supporting and supporting Wi-Fi is increasing.

In particular, the open WiFi zone is being installed in a public place (for example, a theater company, a large shopping mall, a traffic facility, a play facility, etc.) in which a lot of people gather. In this open Wi-Fi zone, Wi-Fi service is provided using an open AP that does not use access authentication or user data encryption, that is, a non-secure AP, in order to provide services to an unspecified number of users.

However, there is a limitation that the network security is weak because the outbound AP does not provide basic functions for security such as connection authentication and user data encryption. That is, since the data security of the open-wi-fi zone is weak, a malicious hacker may inadvertently contact a terminal of a good user, thereby hurting a good user.

Therefore, in the open Wi-Fi zone, research is needed to enhance user data security by providing a user's data security function when communicating between an open AP and a user terminal while allowing anyone to access the open AP in a public place.

The present invention has been created according to the above-mentioned need, and the user terminal conducts the authentication process with the open AP using the security information (i.e., the encryption scheme, the encryption key) provided from the open AP to maintain the open Wi- It is another object of the present invention to provide a communication security method for a user terminal in an open WiFi zone for enhancing security of user data.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for providing communication security for a user terminal in an open WiFi zone, the method comprising: receiving a search request message from a user terminal; Transmitting a response message to the user terminal; Performing authentication of the user terminal using the received security information and transmitting an authentication response message to the user terminal when the authentication request message including the security information is received from the user terminal; And performing a connection setup with the user terminal according to the authentication result.
The security information includes a security method (encryption method) and encryption key information, and the security information is included in a vendor specific field in a search response message.
The search response message may be a probe request message or a beacon message.
The security information included in the authentication request message transmitted from the user terminal to the open AP is the same as the security information included in the search response message transmitted from the open AP. ,
When a search response message including security information is received from the open AP, the user terminal extracts and stores security information in a vendor specific field in the search response message, and transmits an authentication request message including the security information to an open AP send.
When the connection establishment between the user terminal and the open AP is completed, data is encrypted according to the security method (encryption method), and data transmission / reception is performed.

According to the present invention, the user terminal conducts the authentication step with the open AP using the security information (i.e., encryption method, encryption key) provided from the open AP, thereby not only maintaining the open WiFi environment but also enhancing the security of the user data There is an effect.

Further, the present invention has an effect of reducing damage caused by hacking of user data by preventing contact by a malicious hacker in an open WiFi zone.

The present invention also provides a security environment that can maintain the security of user data for each of a plurality of terminals connected to the same open AP by providing different security information to each user terminal connected to the open AP .

1 is a diagram of a method for providing communication security for a user terminal in an open WiFi zone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention, and the manner of achieving them, will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. And is intended to enable a person skilled in the art to readily understand the scope of the invention, and the invention is defined by the claims. It is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. In the present specification, the singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. It is noted that " comprises, " or "comprising," as used herein, means the presence or absence of one or more other components, steps, operations, and / Do not exclude the addition.

1 is a diagram of a method for providing communication security for a user terminal in an open WiFi zone according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1, a method for providing communication security for a user terminal in an open WiFi zone according to an embodiment of the present invention is a method for providing communication security between a user terminal 10 and an open AP 20 in an open Wi- Provides active security features for sending and receiving user connections and user data. Here, since the active security function is actively provided with the security function by the open type AP 20 providing the Wi-Fi environment irrespective of whether the user of the user terminal 10 recognizes the password key in advance to be.

The user terminal 10 accesses the open AP 20 through the following three steps. That is, referring to FIG. 1, the user terminal 10 first performs steps S110 and S120 in a scanning state, performs steps S130 and S140 in an authentication state, And performs Step S150 to Step S170 in the Association State.

Hereinafter, the connection process between the user terminal 10 and the open AP 20 of FIG. 1 will be described in detail.

First, the user terminal 10 transmits a search request message (Probe Request) to search for nearby Wi-Fi APs (S110). That is, the user terminal 10 transmits a search request message (Probe Request) through all the supported channels to search for neighboring Wi-Fi APs. At this time, the user terminal 10 transmits a probe request message in a broadcast manner.

Here, it is assumed that the user terminal 10 is connected to an open AP 20 providing an active security function although the WiFi APs of various connection methods (normal open type, WEP security type, etc.) can be searched .

Then, the open AP 20 transmits a probe response message including security information for providing an active security function to the user terminal 10 in response to a probe request message (S120) . Here, the security information for providing the active security function includes a security method (or an encryption method) and an encryption key, and is written in a vendor specific field added to a probe response message.

Preferably, the open AP 20 provides different encryption keys for each terminal to enhance the security of the user data when multiple terminals attempt to connect. Accordingly, it is possible to provide a security environment for each of a plurality of terminals connected to the same open AP 20 to maintain the security of user data.

In addition, the open AP 20 may include security information in a beacon message instead of the 'Probe Response' message, but only the case of including it in the 'Probe Response' message will be described.

A typical secure access method (for example, WEP security method) requires the terminal to access the WEP encryption key to access an AP supporting the WEP security method. This means that unspecified users who do not know the WEP encryption key can not access the AP supporting the WEP security method. That is, a general security access method can provide a security environment for user data, but it can not provide an open WiFi environment.

On the other hand, the open AP 20 providing the active security function can provide the user data security environment at the same time while maintaining the open Wi-Fi environment by providing not only the security method but also the encryption key to the user terminal 10. [

Meanwhile, the user terminal 10 extracts the security information included in the probe response transmitted from the open AP 20 and performs the authentication step with the open AP 20 (S130, S140).

Specifically, the user terminal 10 extracts a vendor specific field in which security information is written in a probe response message, and stores security information, that is, an encryption method and an encryption key.

Then, the user terminal 10 transmits an authentication request message including the extracted encryption method and encryption key to the open AP 20 (S130). This is a process in which the user terminal 10 attempts authentication to the open AP 20.

Then, the open AP 20 completes the authentication process using the encryption method and the encryption key included in the authentication request message. At this time, the user terminal 10 and the open AP 20 negotiate an encryption step and an encryption step by using the security information (encryption method, encryption key) provided in the search step. You can send and receive.

Then, the open AP 20 transmits an authentication response message to the user terminal 10 in response to the authentication request message (S140).

After the authentication step is completed, the user terminal 10 performs connection establishment for the open AP 20 (S150, S160). That is, the user terminal 10 completes the encryption setting for the user data security through the encryption key exchange according to the open AP 20 and the encryption method. At this time, the user terminal 10 transmits an association request message to the open AP 20 (S150), and the open AP 20 transmits a connection response message (Association) message in response to the association request message Response to the user terminal 10 (S160).

After the connection step is completed, the user terminal 10 encrypts and exchanges user data with the open AP 20 according to a predetermined method (S170). In addition, the user terminal 10 completes the Internet connection preparation through the IP allocation process.

As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention, user data security for open APs in public places can be further enhanced by solving the problem of user data security that occurs because an open AP installed in a public place can not apply the encryption scheme .

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited by the illustrated embodiments, but should be determined by the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

10: User terminal
20: Open AP

Claims (7)

A method for providing communication security of an open AP having an active security function,
Transmitting a search response message including security information for providing an active security function to the user terminal when the search request message from the user terminal is received, the open AP having the active security function;
When receiving an authentication request message including security information for providing the active security function from the user terminal, authenticating the user terminal using the received security information, and transmitting an authentication response message to the user terminal ; And
Performing encryption setting for user data security through exchange of an encryption key according to the encryption method with the user terminal after transmitting the authentication response message,
Wherein the security information for providing the active security function includes a security method (encryption method) and encryption key information, and the security information is provided to a plurality of the user terminals differently, A method for providing communication security for a mobile terminal.
delete The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the security information is included in a vendor specific field in a search response message and transmitted.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the search response message is a probe request message or a beacon message.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the security information included in the authentication request message transmitted from the user terminal to the open AP is the same as the security information included in the search response message transmitted from the open AP, .
The method of claim 3,
When a search response message including security information is received from the open AP, the user terminal extracts and stores security information in a vendor specific field in the search response message, and then transmits an authentication request message including the security information to an open AP Wherein the method comprises the steps of:
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the mobile terminal encrypts data according to the security method (encryption method) when the connection establishment between the user terminal and the open AP is completed, and then performs data transmission / reception in the open WiFi zone.

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