Delayed Authentication and Delayed Measurement Application in One-Way Synchronization

We have performed an analysis of an attack vector regarding one-way time synchronization protocols protected by TESLA-like mechanisms. In this paper, we present our testbed implementation that allows simulation of such protocols to take place, and we give an overview of the results regarding vulnerability of existing protocols, potential countermeasures, and relevance to specifications currently in development. We omit much of the cryptography-related details of our security analysis in favor of specifics regarding the effects and pitfalls related to the delayed authentication used by all TESLA-like protection mechanisms. We place particular emphasis on implications concerning the security and time performance of immediate versus delayed measurement application where this occured in our evaluation.