Countermeasuring MITM Attacks in Solar-Powered PON-Based FiWi Access Networks

Abstract

Solar power (SP) passive optical network (PON)-based fiber-wireless (FiWi) access systems are becoming increasingly popular as they provide coverage to rural and urban areas where no power grid exists. Secure operation of such networks which includes solar- and/or battery-powered devices, is crucial for anticipating potential network issues and prolong the life of the network operation. Since optical network units (ONUs) may be powered by SP-charged batteries, energy awareness becomes an important issue, particularly when it comes to reducing ONUs’ energy consumption and allowing them to operate in off-grid remote areas. With the PON as the fixed part of these networks, the optical line terminal (OLT) informs the ONUs through a message exchange mechanism when no traffic is present, allowing them to transition to a low-power-consumption sleep mode. However, man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks pose a serious threat to the message exchange mechanisms, which can eventually drain the energy of battery-powered ONUs resulting in their shutdown. Consequently, this paper introduces two novel mechanisms for reducing ONU energy consumption, namely the wake-up and time-out mechanisms, which can be used to mitigate the effectiveness of MITM attacks that may seek to affect the unit’s operation due to battery drain. The formal verification results show that these goals were effectively achieved.