Good question.

If a set of certified devices (vendor / model type) are all supposed to act the 
same, then any interference problem could be handled by changing contours or 
blocking all of the model/types.  

Paul


>-----Original Message-----
>From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
>Stephen Farrell
>Sent: Friday, February 03, 2012 3:43 PM
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: [paws] wondering why a device identifier is needed (was: Re:
>Threat model (Rev 3))
>
>
>So this is a bit of a side-issue maybe but I do wonder
>if there's any functional/technical reason, other than
>"the FCC said so," to identify a specific device in the
>paws protocol with a long-lived identifier?
>
>I can see why you'd want a device type of some sort,
>and the DB might need some kind of session ID, but
>I don't get the long-lived device identifier thing
>at all as a functional requirement. Can anyone explain?
>
>I'm not asking now from the privacy or security p-o-v,
>but rather because its easier and cheaper and simpler to
>not bother if you don't have to.
>
>It does also interact with privacy & security of course.
>Once you have to manage the identifier then you may need
>to go to some trouble to protect that, but that's a
>secondary question.
>
>Thanks,
>S.
>
>On 02/03/2012 11:19 PM, Paul Lambert wrote:
>>> using it themselves or retransmitting it.  The resulting data one
>>> whitespace availability will be visible to people and or devices
>which
>>> are not completely controlled by the regulatory agencies.
>>> As such, what is the role of confidentiality with regard to this
>>> information?
>>
>> All channel availability (at least for the FCC) is openly available.
>There is no threat of disclosure of this information.  It's actually the
>reverse.  For planning purposes to buy and use WS devices - you really
>would like a good picture of available spectrum.  It would be very
>detremental to market adoption to limit access to the available
>channels.
>>
>> That said - the current incumbants we discuss are just TV and
>microphones.  In the future, we might be sharing with public saftey or
>military applications that would not want readily accessable maps of
>their locations disseminated.  "Open" consumer devices might in these
>scenarios see no spectrum and the approved devices would get
>allocations.  This still should be out-of-scope.  These types of devices
>are not in our use case scenarios.
>>
>> Privacy as you point out alone is a good justification for some form
>of confidentiality.  But protecting a devices identity may not require
>encryption of the full paws messages.
>>
>> Intgrity and data origin authentication seem more important for the
>protocol design considerations.
>>
>> Paul
>>
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf
>Of
>>> Joel M. Halpern
>>> Sent: Friday, February 03, 2012 11:51 AM
>>> To: [email protected]
>>> Cc: [email protected]
>>> Subject: Re: [paws] Threat model (Rev 3)
>>>
>>> Can we please include in this document some articulation of the
>>> confidentiality assumption we are making with regard to the
>whitespace
>>> data itself?  I am not trying to object to the threats.  (And the
>>> personal information collection issues are enough to jsutify include
>>> confidentiality mechanisms in the solutions.)
>>> But I am still trying to get my head around this.  There are going to
>be
>>> hoards of whitespace devices.  They will be getting the data, and
>either
>>> using it themselves or retransmitting it.  The resulting data one
>>> whitespace availability will be visible to people and or devices
>which
>>> are not completely controlled by the regulatory agencies.
>>> As such, what is the role of confidentiality with regard to this
>>> information?
>>>
>>> Yours,
>>> Joel
>>>
>>> On 2/3/2012 2:34 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Below is Rev 3 of the threat model based on feedback from Stephen,
>>> Nancy
>>>> and Gabor (Thanks).
>>>>
>>>> -Raj
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Rev 3 (3/2/12)
>>>>
>>>> Threat model for the PAWS protocol
>>>> ----------------------------------
>>>>
>>>> Assumptions:
>>>> ............
>>>>
>>>> o It is assumed that an attacker has full access to the network
>medium
>>>>     between the master device and the white space database. The
>>> attacker
>>>>     may be able to eavesdrop on any communications between these
>>>>     entities. The link between the master device and the white space
>>>>     database can be wired or wireless and provides IP connectivity.
>>>>
>>>> o It is assumed that the master device or the white space database
>>>>     have NOT been compromised from a security standpoint.
>>>>
>>>> Threat 1: User modifies a device to masquerade as another valid
>>>>          certified device
>>>>
>>>>          The master device needs to authenticate itself with the
>white
>>>>          space database prior to requesting channel information. The
>>>>          attacker may try to get access to the secrets of the master
>>>>          device which can be used maliciously. The effect of such an
>>>>          attack being successful would result in a malicious client
>>>>          replaying the stolen authentication/authorization secrets
>to a
>>>>          white space database.
>>>>
>>>> Threat 2: Spoofed white space database
>>>>
>>>>          A master device discovers a white space database(s) thru
>which
>>>>          it can query for channel information. The master device
>needs
>>>>          to ensure that the white space database with which it
>>>>          communicates with is an authentic entity. The white space
>>>>          database needs to provide its identity to the master device
>>>>          which can confirm the validity/authenticty of the database.
>An
>>>>          attacker may attempt to spoof a white space database and
>>>>          provide responses to a master device which are malicious
>and
>>>>          result in the master device causing interference to the
>>> primary
>>>>          user of the spectrum.
>>>>
>>>> Threat 3: Modifying a query request
>>>>
>>>>          An attacker may modify the query request sent by a master
>>>>          device to a white space database. The attacker may change
>the
>>>>          location of the device or the capabilities in terms of its
>>>>          transmit power or antenna height etc. which could result in
>>> the
>>>>          database responding with incorrect information about
>available
>>>>          channels or max transmit power allowed. The result of such
>an
>>>>          attack is that the master device would cause intereference
>to
>>>>          the primary user of the spectrum. It could also result in a
>>>>          denial of service to the master device by indicating that
>no
>>>>          channels are available.
>>>>
>>>> Threat 4: Modifying a query response
>>>>
>>>>          An attacker could modify the query response sent by the
>white
>>>>          space database to a master device. The channel information
>or
>>>>          transmit power allowed type of parameters carried in the
>>>>          response could be modified by the attacker resulting in the
>>>>          master device using channels that are not available at a
>>>>          location or transmitting at a greater power level than
>allowed
>>>>          resulting in interference to the primary user of that
>>>>          spectrum. Alternatively the attacker may indicate no
>channel
>>>>          availability at a location resulting in a denial of service
>to
>>>>          the master device.
>>>>
>>>> Threat 5: Unauthorized use of channels by an uncertified device
>>>>
>>>>          An attacker may be a master device which is not certified
>for
>>>>          use by the relevant regulatory body. The attacker may
>listen
>>> to
>>>>          the communication between a valid master device and white
>>> space
>>>>          database and utilize the information about available
>channels
>>>>          in the response message by utilizing those channels. The
>>> result
>>>>          of such an attack is unauthorized use of channels by a
>master
>>>>          device which is not certified to operate.
>>>>          The master device querying the white space database may be
>>>>          operated by a law-enforcement agency and the communications
>>>>          between the device and the database are intended to be kept
>>>>          private. A malicious device should not be able to eavesdrop
>on
>>>>          such communications.
>>>>
>>>> Threat 6: Third party tracking of white space device location and
>>> identity
>>>>
>>>>          A white space database may require a master device to
>provide
>>>>          its identity in addition to its location in the query
>request.
>>>>          Such location/identity information can be gleaned by an
>>>>          eavesdropper. A master device may prefer to keep the
>>>>          location/identity information secret. Hence the protocol
>>> should
>>>>          provide a means to protect the location and identity
>>>>          information of the master device and prevent tracking of
>>>>          locations associated with a white space database. If
>>>>          regulations do not require the identity of the master
>device
>>> to
>>>>          be provided to the white space database, the master is not
>>>>          required to include its identity in the query.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Threat 7: Termination of device service for reasons other than
>>>>          incumbent protection
>>>>
>>>>          A white space database may include a mechanism by which
>>> service
>>>>          and channels allocated to a master device can be revoked. A
>>>>          malicious node can send a revoke message to a master
>>>>          device. This results in denial of service to the master
>>>>          device.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> paws mailing list
>>>> [email protected]
>>>> https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/paws
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> paws mailing list
>>> [email protected]
>>> https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/paws
>> _______________________________________________
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>> https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/paws
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