Context-Aware and Real-time Entrustment Framework for Securing Next Generation Internet Communications by Abdulmonem Mohammad Rashwan A thesis submitted to the Graduate Program in Computing in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada April, 2018 Copyright © Abdulmonem Mohammad Rashwan, 2018 Abstract The Internet has been repeatedly demonstrated to be insufficiently secure for transferring sensitive information worldwide. This insecurity is an inherent characteristic as the Internet did not make any security considerations in its initial design. Rather, as is famously known, it was designed to connect “mutually trusting users”. Such void motivated a long and extensive history of a variety of trust measures to secure Internet communications at its different levels or layers. To date, however, the proposed security measures have been identified as computationally demanding, especially as they utilize cryptographic computations. In light of the evolution of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) and therefore the growing reliance on elements with limited capabilities (in terms of computing and/or energy), facilitating security becomes an equally increasing challenge. Such elements include embedded systems, sensors/actuators, small-scale mobile and wireless devices, in addition to various elements utilized in real-time and/or delay-critical applications. Considerations must therefore be made for addressing the computational challenge while providing the required security. In the meanwhile, any meaningful security solution must be global (i.e., Internet-wide) in its operation. Our objective in this thesis is to demonstrate that an adaptive, end-to-end security solution for the next generation Internet is viable. Integral to our thesis is a holistic and innovative proposal for a Context- Aware and Real-time Entrustment framework or (CARE). The framework comprises a set of security components and modules designed to satisfy the observed and expected needs of next generation computing networks and their elements. While introducing the components and operations of our framework, we showcase how they can help into providing security services for the futuristic NGI communication trends. We then introduce a new approach in empirical analysis for cryptographic functions through which their use of computation resource can be identified and/or predicted. The outcome of this approach is applied in designing a robust security adaptation strategy for the CARE i framework. A complementary resource-aide system is also presented in order to facilitate the secure end- to-end operation. ii Dedication To my caring parents, Mohammad and Mona, …to my treasured wife, Hiba, …to my wonderful kids, Yusuf, Saif, and the not yet born Mustafa, …to my beloved siblings: Basant, Heba, Tasneem, Batool, Ali, Alaa, and Amr, …with all the love, passion, and gratitude. iii Co-Authorship A. M. Rashwan, A-E M. Taha, and H. S. Hassanein, "Using Aiders for Securing Communications of Resource-Challenged Mobile Devices," in preparation. A. M. Rashwan, A-E M. Taha, H. S. Hassanein, and A. Radwan, "Toward designing an adaptive communication security for the next-generation mobile computing," in IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), pp. 1-6, May 2016. A. M. Rashwan, A-E M. Taha, and H. S. Hassanein, "Characterizing the Performance of Security Functions in Mobile Computing Systems," IEEE Internet of Things Journal, October 2014, vol. 1, no. 5, pp. 339-413. A. M. Rashwan, A-E M. Taha, and H. S. Hassanein, "Characterizing the Impact of Dynamic Resource Management on Message Authentication in Mobiles," in IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), June 2014, pp. 1813-1818. A. M. Rashwan, A-E M. Taha, and H. S. Hassanein, "Benchmarking message authentication code functions for mobile computing," in IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM), December 2012, pp. 2585-2590. iv Acknowledgements Excuse me for this strange start. I do not know how other people manage to write their acknowledgements. I always find it challenging to say appropriate words that reflect my gratitude to everyone who had assisted me to advance in my life and career. Please accept my sincere apologies in advance if I did not explicitly acknowledge any of the wonderful people who helped me during my PhD journey. Firstly, I thank my God for guiding me to advance with my life and career, and for giving me strength to overcome the obstacles I encountered in my journey. Without God, I would have not achieved any of what I am presenting to you here. I am also thankful to my God for all the wonderful people I met during my PhD studies. Secondly, I would like to thank Prof. Hossam S. Hassanein and Dr. Abd-Elhamid M. Taha for being very supportive and patient supervisors. To Prof. Hossam, your kind and supportive personality always touched my heart. I appreciate and value your mentorship. I will always feel indebted to you no matter how much I can offer you in return. May God bless you with successful pleasant life and accept your good deeds. To Dr. Abd-Elhamid, you have always been the wise friend to me. Anything I say will not describe my feeling and gratitude towards you. I thank you for all the guidance and support you have given me. I am looking forward to continue with our friendship even stronger and more joyful. May God bless you with a successful, pleasant life and accept your good deeds. I acknowledge with appreciation the funding provided by Queen’s University, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and Syncrude Canada Ltd. v I would also like to thank the members of the supervisory and the examination committees for their valuable remarks, insights, and recommendations. To Prof. Abdallah Shami, many thanks for your time and input on my research work. I did my best to adopt your recommendation into my thesis. To Prof. Patrick Martin, I appreciate that you were able to be one of my examination committee. Your suggestions in regard to improving my technical writing and in regard to how my work is represented are truly valued. I wish you a pleasant and healthy retirement. To Prof. Mohammad Zulkernine, many thanks for your input and the time you spent on my thesis. Your recommendations and comments as a security expert are greatly appreciated. To Prof. Ahmad Afsahi, many thanks for your time and comments. I am pleased that you were part of my examination committee for your valuable inputs on the performance evaluation. To Prof. Nidal Nasser, many thanks for your time and comments as a supervisory committee member. I appreciate your input and recommendations along my research period. I would like to extend my many thanks to all my colleagues and the wonderful people in the Telecommunication Research Laboratory and the School of Computing. I thank Debra Robertson, Richard Linley, Ben Hall, Gary Powley, and Tom Bradshaw for their great help and support. Special thanks to our former research coordinator, Basia Palmer, for all the help she offered to me during and after her time in the TRL. I also extend my special thanks to my fellow TRL friends: Hisham Farahat, Khalid Elgazzar, Mahmoud Ouda, Mahmoud Qutqut, and Sharief Oteafy for their help and recommendations in my thesis work. I also thank the rest of my TRL colleagues: Abdullah Maaitah, Ahmad El-Kouche, Fadi Al-Turjman, Galal Hassan, Louai Al-Awami, and all the other valuable TRL members for giving me the opportunity to cooperate with them in various TRL research works. May God bless you all with a pleasant life and career advancement. vi Finally, last but not least, my journey would have not progressed without the support and love I got from my family here and abroad. To my parents Mohammad and Mona, your support has always been my motivation to continue despite all the challenges I have faced. You are always in my heart despite the physical distance between us. May God bless you with a pleasant life and good health. To my beloved life-partner and wife Hiba, your patience and sacrifices to help me advance in my life are more precious than any treasure you can think of. Despite having rainy days, I am thankful that I am blessed with a caring and beautiful wife like you. I pray to God for having a pleasant and smooth life together. To my kids, Yusuf and Saif, I will try my best, with Godspeed, to account for the time I have missed with you. May God help me raise you to be good contributing members to the society. Abdulmonem M. Rashwan Kingston, Ontario April 2018 vii Statement of Originality I hereby certify that all of the work described within this thesis is the original work of the author. Any published (or unpublished) ideas and/or techniques from the work of others are properly referenced. (Abdulmonem Mohammad Rashwan) (April 2018) viii Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................................... i Dedication .................................................................................................................................................... iii Co-Authorship.............................................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................... v Statement of Originality ............................................................................................................................