Multicast Security for Tactical Networks (MSEC-T)

Sponsored by the Army CERDEC, this research effort developed an innovative technology called Multicast Security for Tactical Networks (MSEC-T) for cost-effectively protecting multicast group membership and multicast messaging in resource-constrained tactical networks. MSEC-T represents a comprehensive solution to multicast security in the tactical networks, which includes a resilient and scalable group control and key management scheme for multicast group security and augmented countermeasures to defend against network-based attacks on IPv6 multicast. A practical and easily deployable solution for supporting tactical operations, the software-only technology will operate within the existing network infrastructure. A full prototype of MSEC-T is currently being implemented with a goal to transition the technology to the field to enhance multicast security in the IPv6 tactical networks. Potential applications of the commercial product from this research include the military, homeland defense and commercial enterprises. For the military, this technology will provide warfighters with a secure operational synchronization in bandwidth-constrained networks to improve situational awareness and C2 operations. For the homeland defense, it will provide secure and efficient communication for emergency response. In the private sector, this technology will enable secure and efficient sharing of commercial data in wireless environments.